Revelations
by MiraculousPhantom639
Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir struggle to confess to their crushes about their feelings, shock will come to them when they realise the other's true feelings. Meanwhile Hawkmoth has a plan that could finish Ladybug and Chat Noir and change their lives forever.
1. Confessions

**A Miraculous Ladybug FanFic? Don't mind if I do! :D I have just recently fell in love with this show and now I can't get enough of it! I've been looking at fan-art, other FanFics and just watching the episodes to death! XD It is now my favourite thing out of everything else I like! :D**

 **So anyways, I've never made a MB FanFic before, so for those of you that have been in the fandom longer than I have may think that I portray the characters wrong or something. I am sorry but I am learning as much as I can about the characters so it can almost seem like it's an actual episode or something, lol. Just basically so they don't sound OOC (out of character) ^^;**

 **Here's a very brief summary of the plot, though I've written it already above, here's the extended version:**

 _ **Ladybug and Chat Noir struggle to confess to their crushes about their feelings, jealousy, excitement, determination and shock will come to them. Meanwhile Hawkmoth has a plan that could finish Ladybug and Chat Noir once and for all, and possibly reveal their secret identities.**_

 **Enjoy the new FanFic: Revelations ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 1 – Confessions**

In the daytime, she was Marinette, but when evil were to arise...she would become Ladybug. She had a secret identity as a 15 year old school girl who lived in a bakery with her French father and Chinese mother. She had a best friend called Alya who was obsessed with Ladybug and ran her own blog on her. But the most important thing in her life was her huge crush on Adrien.

Adrien Agreste, a rich 15 year old blonde who was a model, and really good at fencing, but secretly, he was also Chat Noir.

Together in their alter egos, Ladybug and Chat Noir would fight together to battle off the evil akumas led by Hawkmoth, an evil man with the power to change harmless butterflies into akumas and possess the weak and angry minded.

However, there was one thing they didn't know about each other...and that was who they both really were. Adrien had no idea that it his crush Ladybug, was really Marinette, and Marinette didn't know that she was around her crush a lot more often than she thought when he was Chat Noir.

Since neither two knew who each other really were, feelings were not reciprocated to. Ladybug had always ignored Chat Noir's flirtations and charm because of her crush on Adrien, while Adrien didn't take much notice to Marinette because he had a huge crush on Ladybug, although he was still kind to her since it was in his nature to be nice to others, unless they did the wrong thing.

It was another day in Paris; another akuma was captured and cleansed of the evil power it possessed as a result of Hawkmoth. Ladybug had just finished waving goodbye to the butterfly when Chat approached from behind, scaring her playfully, unfortunately this made her jump and almost whack him in the face with her yo-yo, but sighed in relief and moaned in annoyance that he scared her.

"Don't worry, it's only me." He assured her, resting his hands on Ladybug's upper arms with an adoring smile.

Ladybug brushed them off with a scoff before smirking and then hearing her earrings beep in warning that her transformation was going to wear off, she gasped immediately and proceeded to say goodbye to Chat for the night, but then he quickly grabbed her hand.

"I have to go; my transformation will wear off soon." She exclaimed, covering one of her earrings with her hand as it beeped again.

"I know." He said, before he heard his ring beep in warning that his transformation will wear off soon. "And so will mine, but I just need to tell you something."

Ladybug was in a hurry to get out of his sight so that he wouldn't see who she really was, she only had two spots left before her transformation would wear off and turn her back into Marinette. She let this moment slide before her earrings reached one spot.

"Okay but please make it quick, I don't think either of should us see who we really are..." She replied, biting her lip and looking down anxiously.

Chat sighed; he knew that this would happen again. Ladybug would either come up with an excuse or their transformation would be minutes away from reverting them back to their original forms. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her but could never pick a right time, and earlier that year Valentine's Day didn't go the way he had hoped it would turn out to be.

"It's never a good time for us, is it?" He asked, with a lowered head and sound of feeling rejected.

Ladybug looked to the side, not wanting to see Chat like this, but yet it occurred to her every time they encountered each other for a battle. It made her feel awkward and uncomfortable, she adored the fact that someone liked her in return but she had her heart set on Adrien so she had to ignore.

"No, it never is." She replied almost bluntly, looking down to avoid the saddened expression on the Black Cat's face.

He sighed, relaxing his shoulders a little, feeling that today was another loss but at the same time another victory. With the sound of another beep from Ladybug's earrings, she waved goodbye and thanked him for helping her with the battle and then swang from building to building until she was out of sight.

Chat looked down, wanting to transform now but knew that he was standing on top of the roof of a tall building. So he quickly leapt down and hid somewhere so his transformation could be released without being seen, with a flash of bright light gradually moving upwards and around his body made Chat Noir turn back into Adrien.

Adrien walked home feeling rejected, although the only thing that made him feel that way was the amount of time he couldn't spend alone with Ladybug. He couldn't tell her tonight, he had to find a way to spend time with her without it to do with a battle, they never did patrols because of their busy personal lives, but perhaps it was something for him to consider.

The next day at school, Adrien was looking a little down, and his best friend Nino was the first to catch on to it.

"Hey, what's making you down Adrien? Let me guess, it's your father again?" He asked, assuming so because of how strict Adrien's father was.

Adrien sighed and moved his pencil around on the table, thinking about Ladybug while at the same time trying to listen to what the teacher was saying during the lesson. It wasn't until Nino asked him a second time that Adrien responded.

"I'm fine; it's just complicated to talk about right now." He answered in a glum tone.

Nino gave a concerned look to his friend, but then shrugged it off as he continued to focus on the lesson.

Meanwhile Marinette and her best friend Alya were sitting behind them and had seen Adrien looking depressed and not really motivated to do anything. Both girls, especially Marinette felt concerned for him, but didn't know whether this should be a situation they could help him with or have him figure it out on his own. They didn't know exactly what the problem was, but Marinette especially knew that something wasn't right with him today.

"I think it's just his father being strict on him again, you shouldn't worry too much." Alya concluded, after thinking about why Adrien would be feeling so down during class.

Marinette shrugged; from how Adrien was behaving it did seem like whatever situation he was in it was serious. Perhaps it was family matters between him and his father, she thought. So she shrugged it off and continued with the lesson.

That day there had been no akuma attacks, so Adrien decided to take advantage of this likely opportunity to spend time with Ladybug. Unfortunately he could only contact her if he was as Chat Noir, and in order to see her face during a call she would have to be Ladybug. There had been an idea Adrien's kwami Plagg had suggested about lying about an akuma attack, but Adrien didn't want to lie to her.

"Plagg, I can't do that to her. I can see more bad things happening if I do that." He exclaimed with a serious expression.

Plagg, holding a small piece of cheese, floated in front of Adrien with concern but yet a small hint of a smile.

"Why don't you just call her, say you love her through that?" He suggested, almost gagging after saying the word 'love' but then eating his piece of cheese.

Adrien sighed and walked up to his window, leaning his head and arm against it as he felt like there was no way of just being able to talk to Ladybug and admit his feelings to her.

"I don't want her to know like that. I need to see her reaction." He implied, looking up at the now sunset coloured sky above the buildings.

He heard his little kwami sigh, indicating that he was going to say something that wouldn't make him feel any better. "You know, Ladybug doesn't really share the same feelings as you, I can tell."

Narrowing his eyes, Adrien glared at his kwami. "What makes you think you know her better than I do? You don't know that."

Plagg rolled his eyes as he sat down on Adrien's bed. "Look, how about you tell her and then we'll see if she returns the same feelings as you. But since you are the unlucky one, I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't." He implied, crossing his arms.

Knowing his kwami was right about one thing, he sighed and nodded. "I guess you're right, but you don't really know until you try." He ended, feeling more determined towards the end of the sentence.

An hour later, Marinette was doing her homework with her kwami Tikki's help when Tikki felt a buzz ring through her body.

"I think Chat Noir is calling you." She implied, as she began to buzz more like a vibrating phone.

Dropping her pen and clearing her throat, she told Tikki to take the call so she could respond to him. She grew curious and concerned as to why he was calling her at this time.

"Chat Noir? What's going on?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Through Tikki's antennae, Marinette was able to hear Chat Noir's every word.

"Could you come to the top of the Eiffel Tower? I need you there." He requested.

Marinette widened her eyes but then folded her arms in thinking this was just a silly prank or something. "Why so? Is there an akuma attack and you need my help?" She asked with a smirk.

"I can't say, but I can say that it involves your help. See you there." He replied, sounding slightly anxious.

Before asking any more questions, Chat hung up on her and left her confused and suspicious. It left Tikki deeply worried that he might be in trouble.

"We should go, just in case if he gets captured or gets hurt." Tikki insisted.

Hanging her arm over the back of the chair, she looked down in thought. "I don't know...if it's not an akuma attack then he really doesn't need my help."

"It's best to regret doing something than not doing it." Tikki implied with a smirk and a wink.

Marinette sighed, and agreed with her kwami. "Alright Tikki, spots on!"

With a brilliant flash of white light, Marinette was transformed into Ladybug; she then left her room and made her way to the Eiffel Tower by swinging from building to building with her yo-yo.

Meanwhile, Chat was on the top of the Eiffel Tower eagerly awaiting the arrival of Ladybug, he grew so nervous, but could hear from his kwami inside him that he had to remain calm and expect any outcome that was to occur. He silently nodded, moving closer towards the edge of the small top and looking down to see Ladybug at the bottom of the Eiffel tower, moving up the Eiffel Tower with her yo-yo.

"Okay, this is it. I have to tell her. No matter what outcome, she needs to know." He whispered to himself, almost clenching his fists in deep worry that she wouldn't return the same feelings and reject him.

Another swing of her yo-yo and Ladybug was on the top of the Eiffel tower with Chat Noir. Her immediate response to the scene was a raised eyebrow of confusion and suspicion.

"Why did you call me up here? There's no danger." She said, looking around with her yo-yo still gripped in her hand.

Sitting up, Chat approached Ladybug with a caring smile. "I need your help with something."

Almost less than a metre away from her, she started to feel cautious of why he was going to close to her. Her immediate thought was to playfully brush off any flirtation he would give her if it was that situation. But the expression and look in his neon green eyes made her think that this was all too serious to be fun and games.

"With what?" She asked, in a more suspicious tone. "What did you do?"

He grabbed her hand; he gripped it tightly as he looked into her sparkling blue eyes. She felt her heart race at the touch of his hand on hers made her stomach tighten. She wanted to let go, but with the look of deep care and adoration swept across Chat Noir's face, she couldn't.

Hearing her question, he wanted to answer but creatively. Not saying it in reply would change the moment and shoot him down. So, looking deep into her eyes, he answered her question.

"I fell in love with you."

Ladybug's eyes widened, she let go of his hand and backed away a few steps, not showing any indication of sudden movement, which made Chat feel less anxious about her reaction, but yet he still worried since she had only given him a shocked expression.

He approached her, but she put her hand out telling him to stay where he was.

She knew it to be true from the moment he started to flirt with her, but she had never expected her heart to race a million miles when she heard the words from him. All the flirtation she thought it was how he acted around girls, since he seemed like that kind of guy who would be flirting with many girls.

Someone loved her, someone loved Marinette...but it wasn't the person she wanted to be fallen in love with. She loved Adrien, more than she could love anyone else. Yet the saddened and worried look in the black cat's eyes made her heart drop in guilt and make her stomach churn in feelings of wanting to be with him, yet her mind reminded her who she loved.

"I..." She stuttered, backing further away from Chat. "I...can't love you the same way."

Knowing that his kwami was right to expect any sort of outcome, he reluctantly sighed and nodded in an understanding. Although he had high hopes that everything would turn out okay and they would be together, somehow his doubts were heavier than his hopes, and made him sit on the ledge and close his eyes, not wanting to hear or see anymore so he would feel less pain.

However, curiosity had sparked in his mind the moment she said that, perhaps there was someone else? Or the fact that she was too busy? Or that she found him to be more of a brother to him than someone closer and more intimate? His thoughts ran wild, he needed to know why at least, so then he would know exactly why she didn't return his feelings and understand.

"Why?" He asked, not facing her as she sat on the ledge a little way's distance from him, but still able to hear him.

She looked down, all she saw was how high up the two of them were. Somehow there was only a small breeze from being this high up from the ground, it wasn't very cold, but looking at Chat Noir she could see that her words made him feel colder emotionally.

Biting her lip, and knowing that he would ask because she knew how curious he was about her life, she had to tell him the truth. But she would only mention Adrien's name if she really needed to.

"I can't feel the same way about you because...I love someone else."

Suddenly, heat and the boiling of jealousy inside of him wanted to explode all over. He held back, not wanting to delve deeper into her life as it was her life and not his, and she had the right to say what she wanted to say. He didn't want his emotions getting in the way of their friendship.

He wanted to know who this other person was, more than anything at that very moment. But he had to hold back for his own sake and hers, he didn't want to ask but it was driving his mind wild with a million thoughts racing through his mind.

She looked at him, seeing the conflict within him to stop him from asking more. It made her heart sink heavily and made her look away for a short moment, thinking about whether she should help him or leave him for the night.

As Chat heavily breathed, trying to fight his curiosity, he heard what he wasn't expecting but at the same time he was begging to know.

"If you need to know...his name is Adrien..." She answered, hiding her face slightly, worried that now Chat might react badly.

Almost jumping and falling off the tower in response to his secret identity name, Chat's neon green eyes lit up with excitement, devastation, and pure shock. He wasn't sure what to say to her after hearing that she may like his counterpart, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions just yet. There could be many other people in Paris named Adrien that she may love, and he didn't know where she lived so she could live out of town for all he knows, he couldn't be certain that she was talking about his counterpart.

He decided to think about it overnight. So he thanked Ladybug for telling him while she apologised for upsetting him deeply. He assured her that he'll recover in time and disappeared into the night, leaving Ladybug alone and deeply worried for her crime fighting partner.

 **So there's the first Chapter for you! ^^ Let me know if there's anything I am doing wrong so I can fix it (like how I am portraying the characters, and if my accuracy of the show is in check, too short/long of a chapter, etc.). ;)**

 **Not sure how regularly I'll update this, but I'll wait and see how popular this gets first ;D**


	2. Frustrating Questions

**Whoa...I really should have been prepared for so many emails saying that this thing got over 20 follows, over 10 favourites and nearly 10 reviews!? In just one Chapter?! O.o Man, I didn't realise how popular it would get until I checked the day after I uploaded it and saw 20+ emails from FanFiction about this story XD**

 **So this does mean that I will try to update it sooner, less than weekly but not daily. I was thinking every 3-5 days, how does that sound for you guys? I think it's enough to make you struggle on your seats but feel relieved just a few short days later ^^**

 **Keep the reviews coming! I love all of your enthusiasm to continue writing this! :D**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 2 – Frustrating Questions**

Later on that night, Adrien was pacing around his room, thinking and analysing every word that Ladybug said to him. He couldn't stop thinking about what she told him, he wanted to know more than anything whether it was him that she loved or it was another Adrien that lived in Paris.

But there was one thing for certain...she didn't love Chat Noir.

It made him sink in his bed; he ignored almost everything his kwami said to him, reminding him that he was right about how things would turn out. He should have been more expectant of the outcome, yet the sparkle in her eyes and every time he looked at her, all doubts would be out the door. Plagg had warned him, he tried to make him feel more realistic about the situation, but Adrien couldn't help it.

"I just...can't think when I'm around her, that's the problem!" He exclaimed to his kwami. "There are so many things I want to ask her but I just can't!"

Adrien fell onto his bed, face first into his pillow as his kwami floated in front of his head. "Look Adrien, I think it's best for now that you sleep on it. You've worn the both of us out." He stated, slowly planting himself on Adrien's pillow right next to his head.

With a heavy sigh, Adrien got up and got ready for bed.

Meanwhile, Tikki was giving a similar talk to Marinette about how worried she seemed. She had been fretting all night that Chat Noir might do something to Adrien, but Tikki assured her that with his reaction to who she liked, he didn't show jealousy and anger, but yet sadness and devastation.

"Please Marinette, let's leave this for tonight. Remember you have school tomorrow." She reminded, floating over towards the calendar.

She sighed, pulling out her bottom drawer to get her pyjamas. "Okay, I just hope our next battle we can still fight together. He did seem upset about it." She added, still wanting to talk about it.

Her kwami assured her that things will eventually work out, and it wasn't best to talk about it that night as it could stress her out and sleep less. So Marinette got ready for bed and went to sleep.

The next day at school, Alya was the first to notice that Marinette was late yet again. A few minutes after the class started she burst through the door with countless apologies as to why she was late. The teacher resumed her lesson as she instructed Marinette to take a seat quietly.

She sat next to Alya, who still had her bag on the table in front but with her books and pencils laid out on the desk. She glanced over at Adrien who looked very down; she saw that Marinette was too busy organising her books to notice that Adrien's mood was different.

With a nudge of her shoulder, she grasped Marinette's attention and gestured to Adrien. "Adrien's still down, you think he's alright?"

She moved her bag off the desk, seeing that Adrien had sunken in his chair and was carelessly moving his pencil slowly across the table, she was relieved that the teacher didn't notice this. Marinette felt extremely worried for him, and with her curiosity boiling she wanted to know why he was upset, but saw that now was definitely not the time. She would check with Nino shortly after class to see if he knew anything.

When that time came, Nino responded with a shrug and a frown of concern. "I'm sorry, I wish I knew. But I do have a hunch that it's because of his father."

Marinette sighed, seeing that Adrien had walked off already and had not yet greeted her like he always did every day. Something was definitely down, and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. She consulted Alya for help with this situation.

"So, what can I do?" She asked, sitting on the bench with some yoghurt in her hand.

Alya rubbed her chin in thought, she was worried about how Adrien had been so down lately, but perhaps Nino was right. As far as they knew, only his father could make him feel so down in the dumps.

"It's most probably his father, maybe we could ask him and Nino to catch up at the cafe?" She suggested.

The navy haired teen thought for a moment, she knew that when he was with his friends he felt more happy and comfortable. Yet lately he had been down even around his friends, though maybe catching up with just the four of them together wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Alya left to find Nino while Marinette sat down at the bench with her food and silently talked to her kwami about how worried she was for Adrien.

"I just hope he's okay." She said, sighing sadly as she looked at her food.

"No need to worry Marinette, I'm sure whatever problem Adrien is dealing with, he'll recover soon." Tikki assured her with a smile.

So as the next lesson went by, Adrien began to talk more to Nino, but however still not really focusing in class. Nino had asked his best friend about catching up later and he seemed enthusiastic about it. In Adrien's eyes, it was a way to get his mind off the one thing that has been bugging his mind since the night before.

Did Ladybug love him, or another Adrien?

So after school, Adrien had checked his schedule and was relieved that he didn't have a photo shoot until later on at sunset and that his fencing classes didn't run on this day. So he was more than relieved that he gets to spend some time with his friends relaxing and forgetting about his big worry.

They all headed for the cafe together, Marinette was shaking almost too obvious for all of them for notice, and she was walking in between Alya and Adrien while Nino walked on Adrien's right side. Alya had nudged Marinette in reminder that she was walking right next to him. This made Marinette's heart race as she grew a widened smile of glee and nervousness on her face, relieved that Adrien didn't see the strange expression on her face.

After arriving at the cafe, they all sat down at a rounded table, Alya pushed Marinette to sit next to Adrien so that she could be closer to him. Marinette hesitated because she was far too shy but Alya insisted, and was going to make a scene if Marinette didn't. Adrien didn't mind at all, in fact he found it amusing that Alya was playfully forcing Marinette to do something she felt almost completely uncomfortable doing.

"Hey, it's okay I don't bite." Adrien assured Marinette, giving her a wink.

This made Marinette's mind jump to Chat Noir's silly puns that he always made up, it made her shake her head in denial and quickly focus her attention to what was on the menu.

"I think I'll just have a small coffee and two strawberry macaroons." She said nervously, before setting down the menu and reaching for her small pink handbag for her purse.

Alya raised her eyebrow but then smirked as she saw that Marinette was far too nervous to even talk to Adrien properly. However Alya did admit to herself that Adrien making jokes wasn't really like him, she tilted her head at him for a moment before looking at the menu to see what she wanted.

After they had all gotten their snacks and drinks, they began to have a nice conversation. Adrien tried to talk about school and a movie he was thinking of seeing soon, while Alya couldn't stop talking about her blog because of how increasingly popular it was getting. This made Marinette face palm and Nino intrigued to hear more from Alya.

"All those videos I post about Ladybug just get so many hits I feel like a worldwide sensation!" She exclaimed, with exaggerated gestures.

Nino chuckled, before reaching for a biscuit. "Don't get too ahead of yourself there." He warned playfully with a smirk.

The sound of Ladybug's name being mentioned made Adrien feel uneasy and down, he slouched in his chair a little as the thoughts from before had come back into his mind and robbed it from focusing on anything else.

Marinette was the first to notice, she didn't know whether she should butt in and ask what was wrong or let him deal with it himself. But feeling her curiosity rob her mind, she spoke up about Adrien's sudden low interest in everything.

"Um, Adrien...are you okay...? You don't have to talk about it but it would be better if we knew...I mean it's just that I'd know what to do- I mean...it's okay if you don't want to say anything."

With a heavy sigh, Adrien turned his head slightly to look over to Marinette, who was beginning blush a light pink due to her stuttered uneven words. He frowned, knowing that Marinette wouldn't understand what he was going through.

"I don't really want to say, but thanks for asking." He said, looking back down at his iced tea in front of him and fiddling with the straw.

This caught Alya's and Nino's attention, they both looked at the depressed blonde teen and were going to raise concern when they saw him take in a deep breath before changing the topic.

"So, what have you been up to Nino?" He asked, straightening his posture more upright so he seemed okay.

Nino felt startled by the sudden topic change to him, but didn't mind. He started to talk about how he was asking his parents for his own turntable to play his music on and have parties. While Marinette snuck a few glances at Adrien, seeing that his mood was better and she felt happy to see that he was now smiling.

As the afternoon went on, everyone except for Adrien talked about the things that were happening at school and in their lives such as Alya's ladybug blog, Marinette's fashion designing and baking practice with her parents, and Nino's talk about how he wanted to open up his own radio station someday.

They had wondered why Adrien didn't say much about himself but decided not to ask as he was in a happy mood and probably the only thing that was happening in his life right now wasn't a good thing to talk about. So they continued to talk about their own things while Adrien constantly asked questions and commented on what the other three were saying to keep the conversation stimulated on his part.

Once it was late, they parted ways. Nino walked by himself while Adrien had called for someone to pick him up and take him to his photo shoot, while the two girls walked with each other down to Marinette's home.

"Did you love sitting next to Adrien?" Alya asked with a tease, fluttering her eyes with a grin.

"Alya!" Marinette snapped as she felt warm blood rush to her cheeks in embarrassment. "And yes, I did. But, I'm worried about him. I feel like I should help him somehow..." She suggested, looking down in worry.

Her best friend placed a hand of assurance on Marinette's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure whatever the problem is, he'll have it sorted by the end of the week." She said with a wink.

Later on that day, Adrien was stumped again. He wanted to see Ladybug again and talk to her, ask her more questions about this Adrien she liked; he knew that he couldn't reveal his secret identity to her. But he was beginning to consider so if Ladybug was indeed infatuated with him. Plagg almost flew through the roof at the sound of Adrien saying that.

"Are you crazy!? And I thought it was bad enough when you wanted to confess your love to her...blech." He gagged. "And what if you tell her and then she says that it wasn't you? Do you think she'll even tell you if it's you or not? Have you thought any of this-"

Adrien grabbed his kwami and silenced him, feeling frustrated and pressured by all the things Plagg was asking and saying to him.

"Plagg! I just want to know if it's this Adrien she loves or if it's someone else." He exclaimed, gesturing to himself when mentioning his name.

Plagg rolled his eyes as Adrien gently let go of his kwami. "And what do you expect to earn from this? What are you going to do after you know? What if she likes another-"

"Enough!" Adrien yelled, wanting to grab him again but Plagg flew high up out of Adrien's jumping reach. "The most important thing for me to know now if she likes me or someone else named Adrien. It frustrates me that she doesn't like Chat Noir...she might not even like the real me if she doesn't love me the same way I love her..." He ended with a sigh as he sat on the edge of his bed, with Plagg slowly collapsing into his hands.

"What do I do?" He cried, feeling like he was going to break down in tears.

"Look, I'm not really big on love. And with the many other Chat Noir's I've been with they've almost failed every time to woo Ladybug so she would return the same affection." He explained, before quickly realising what he just said.

Adrien's eyes widened in shock, with the previous Chat Noir's Plagg has been with, many of them were infatuated with Ladybug and failed to be with her because she never returned the same affection.

"Are you saying I'm not the first Chat Noir to be in this mess?"

Plagg wanted to stay quiet, but seeing that Adrien had him in his hands and was beginning to tighten his grip on him he had no choice. "No, you're not. But almost all of the Chat Noir's I've been with all these years have at least been infatuated with Ladybug. And why wouldn't they? They've always worked together with Ladybug to keep everything balanced." Plagg explained, sounding more informative than he usually would.

The blonde teen had his mouth hanging open slightly with his eyes widened in the sudden realisation that this was a common thing to happen to him as it had happened to the Chat Noir's before him. But yet, it made his heart sink when he realised that many others had failed to have Ladybug love her in return.

"Only infatuated? You mean none of them grew close with Ladybug?" He asked, holding Plagg closer to his chest.

Plagg looked reluctant to say anymore, but he had to say because he knew just how curious Adrien got around information as astonishing as this. "I'll say this; if she's the lucky one...what does that make you if you two balance each other out?" He asked in a more sympathetic tone.

Adrien slouched, sighing and looking down as he realised what Plagg meant. "I'm the unlucky one...so me and Ladybug have never been together...?"

It was beginning to sound clearer to Adrien, Ladybug was lucky to have someone love her, while Adrien was unlucky to have her not share those same feelings.

Plagg wanted to answer honestly, as there was more to it than what Adrien knew, but then Plagg's little stomach made a loud growling sound that interrupted the moment. He chuckled sheepishly as he floated upwards.

"I take it you want some cheese?" Adrien assumed, still in a saddened mood but still willing to feed his kwami.

So after Adrien fed his kwami some more cheese, Adrien stared out the window in long thought about Ladybug. He didn't want to contact her again just to talk to her because now she knew all so clear why he wanted to talk to her more often, but it worried him that if he called her again he would frustrate her and she would be annoyed. He had thought of revealing his identity to her if she really did love him and not some other Adrien, but he didn't know how to place it since if that were to be true, Ladybug would be in for a huge shock that might be too overwhelming for her.

He kept it on his mind for the rest of the night and as he slept.

 **Well that's another day of the story past, man I feel so attached to this story myself, lol why shouldn't I be surprised it got so much good feedback? XD I really hope all my facts are correct in the story about the show, if not please let me know ^^**

 **So I hope you all enjoyed the Chapter and the next Chapter should be up by Friday at the latest ;)**


	3. Strange Timing

**To be honest, I'd like to update this story every day, but because I post this FanFic on Deviantart as well I have to keep my art consistent and not just have MB Chapter all over my wall. Not that I feel it's a bad thing but I just need variety and a little space between each Chapter that I write. ^^**

 **So that's a small note you need to take into account, plus that if you are on Deviantart and find this exact same story, don't worry I am only posting it on both FanFiction and Deviantart ;)**

 **Onwards with the Chapter! And keep giving the constant feedback! It's nice to know how many people enjoy this story so far. And did you know that this story is actually now my top followed FanFic? That's awesome! I love you guys! :D**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 3 – Strange Timing**

At around 4am, Adrien was suddenly and quickly woken up by his kwami. His first initial reaction was disinterest due to his tiredness overtaking his concern for his kwami.

"I'll get you cheese later Plagg...just let me sleep..." He mumbled, turning over to face the wall, away from Plagg.

"Adrien, I just saw someone leaping across those buildings over there...and it didn't look like Ladybug...I think it was an akumatised victim of Hawkmoth." He exclaimed, pointing out towards the window.

This made Adrien's eyes dart open and his tiredness was gone within an instant as panic rushed to his brain. He sat up and turned out the window to see a shadowy figure in the night. He raised an eyebrow in confusion as to why there was an akuma attack this late into the night.

"Hawkmoth's awake now? But it's 4am!" He exclaimed, looking at the clock before jumping out of bed and racing to his window.

He tried to look at the shadowy figure, but couldn't see much due to the lack of light around the neighbourhood. However he did know it was another akuma Hawkmoth had sent out as he saw a purple outline around the face of the shadow. Narrowing his eyebrows, Adrien turned to Plagg.

"Plagg, claws out!"

Plagg was sucked into his ring and with a flash of bright light Adrien was transformed into Chat Noir. He leapt from roof to roof, trying to find sight of the shadowy figure. He yawned as he felt his body demanding more sleep, but then he heard the sound of running from behind, he quickly turned to see the shadowy figure running straight towards him.

Chat immediately jumped and used his staff to land himself on the ground below. He looked around for Ladybug, but had assumed that she was still asleep as her other self. So with a sigh, he decided that he would be fighting this akuma alone. However, he thought of how he would be able to rid of the akuma since only Ladybug was able to. He wanted to contact her, but decided to wait as he had not gotten hold of the object that the akuma had possessed, and he didn't want to disturb her unless he really needed to.

He looked up from where he was seconds ago, and saw the shadowy figure on the roof. Who quickly jumped down and landed perfectly on the ground without a scratch or fault in his landing. It was clear to Chat that by the upper muscles on the shadowy figure that it had to be a man, possibly an adult older than him.

"Try and catch me Cat, I'm the night burglar, so good luck trying to see!" The figure declared, smirking at the chat.

Chat could tell that this figure didn't know the extent to his abilities; he was able to see well in the dark and could see the expression on his face quite clearly. His costume looked like a mix of a jail outfit and a burglar outfit with the signature akuma mask on his face.

As the akumatised victim dashed away, Chat followed after, he saw that there was a way he could slow him down with his staff. He grabbed it and with a snicker he threw it in between a lamp post and the wall of a building. This made the victim choke a little from the sudden staff and fall to his knees.

The cat sighed in relief, but now that he had the akumatised victim down he couldn't do anything, so instead, he searched for what object could've been affected by the akuma. He studied the man's body, and found a bag attached to his belt with a large euro sign on it. He was about to reach for it when he felt his tail being pulled at and then he was flung to the other side of the street, disturbing a neighbour or two.

"I can't do this without her!" He cried in a quiet tone, holding in his lips with frustration and giving a glare to the shadow which ventured off further down the street. "I need Ladybug's help." He decided, getting his staff and contacting Ladybug.

In the bakery a few blocks down, Marinette was sound asleep when suddenly she heard the sound of what she assumed was her alarm. She rolled over to look at the time and saw that it was a little after 4am. She raised an eyebrow in confusion and then shrugging as she rested her head back down, but yet the noise was still present. It was then that Tikki asked for her attention.

"Marinette, it's Chat Noir. He's trying to contact you." She said, vibrating like a phone.

Marinette grunted, annoyed that Chat Noir was contacting her at this time of the night. Her first thought was that he was trying to get to her again, being in the grumpy mood she was from him disturbing her sleep, she answered with a sarcastic comment.

"You can't sleep without me now, is that it?"

Chat's initial thoughts were that she had gotten over what had happened from their last encounter, or the fact that she sounded tired.

"Um, actually cats are nocturnal." He stated, turning his head a little before seeing the night burglar on the roof of a nearby house. "Ladybug, I need your help, and this time it IS an akuma attack."

He heard no response but a small cackle of laughter; this made him feel annoyed slightly that Ladybug didn't take him seriously. He felt guilt rushing through his body as he realised that after asking her to come for no reason the other night she now wouldn't believe him.

"I'm serious. He calls himself the night burglar and he's going through every building in search of money and other things. I've tried to stop him but I can't without your help." He explained, raising his staff up to take a picture of the night burglar on top of a roof. "Transform and I'll send you this picture of him. Trust me on this."

With a sigh, she agreed and hung up on him temporarily so that he could send her the picture. Lucky for his night vision, it was also included in the pictures he took with his staff so Ladybug could see the picture clear as day.

Marinette transformed into Ladybug and received the picture Chat sent through. He wasn't lying. Her eyes widened slightly and looked for Chat Noir's location before nodding in determination and leaving her room to find him.

While staying is position, he watched the akumatised victim leap from roof to roof like he was Santa Claus, only that this one was taking stuff instead of leaving it. Chat wanted to go and fight but knew that he had to wait for Ladybug first.

It was moments later that he heard her swinging and jumping from building to building and then she was kneeling at his side, looking out towards the dim town only lit by street lights as she tried to find the akumatised victim. She looked at him for a split moment to see him staring anxiously at her, her instant thoughts were that he still remembered from what happened when he confessed his true feelings to her.

She had only one reason as to why she wasn't returning the same feelings back at Chat, and that was because of Adrien. She was beginning to think that if she had never developed a crush on Adrien she might have liked Chat the same way that he did, this made her widen her eyes for a small moment but then focus her mind as she saw the night burglar off in the distance.

"There he is, have you seen where the akuma might be?"

Biting his lip and staying focused on the task at hand; he focused his mind on the situation and remembered the possibility of the money bag being where the akuma was hiding.

"I do have a hunch that it's that money bag he's been carrying around." He answered, clenching his chin a little in thought. "But, only you know for sure."

Ladybug gave a faint smile in reply that he found her to be the better half of the team over each other, but she raised concern in her expression when she realised that he was only complimenting her so she would be more acceptable to his feelings.

She playfully gave him a wink and shrugged off the feeling in her gut that tightened whenever Chat said anything like that, she only wished that Adrien would tell her something like that. She would be over the moon and dazed forever if he said a compliment as meaningful as that.

"I think that's where it would be, I can't imagine any other place on a burglar where the akuma might hide." She said with a smirk, before getting her yoyo out, readying herself. "Okay, let's go!"

Chat followed Ladybug's lead, as always he knew that Ladybug would have to be in front so that she could get the possessed object and then cleanse the akuma of its evil. He leapt from building to building, following her every move almost simultaneously.

She hid behind a chimney as Chat hid behind another not far away from her, he could see the night burglar clearer with his added night vision. He signalled to Ladybug and he saw he swing down and knock him down, it was time for Chat to knock him down enough so that Ladybug could cleanse the akuma.

He swung his baton in a circular motion above his head so that he would land safely on the ground, and then he aimed the baton towards the night burglar but was then punched away by the night burglar's amazing strength. He fell not too far down the street, hitting his head against a car and relieved that its alarm didn't go off.

The Night burglar was attacking with handcuffs that could stop a person and tie them to the ground so that they could do nothing else, Ladybug was dodging as many as she could and flew up to higher ground, but since it was still dark and there was no speck of light over the eastern horizon, it made it very difficult for her to see the night burglar in the dark.

She heard Chat running towards him, and then using his cataclysm on the road beneath the akumatised victim. It made him fall and was then trapped beneath the floor, with his money bag thrown to the side by the sudden suction of his body.

The crime fighting duo smiled, Ladybug was relieved that she didn't have to use her lucky charm; she swung her way down and reached out for the bag when suddenly she was pinned to the ground by handcuffs.

"Chat! Why doesn't your cataclysm make his arms sink beneath the ground too?!"

The cat dressed hero shrugged. "What? It's exactly the same thing I did with that Robo Cop and his arms were above the ground too." He explained, gesturing towards the ground, feeling a little insulted.

"Well don't just stand there, do something!" She cried, trying to break free.

It was then that Chat heard his ring beep to him, this was now getting too close for comfort, he had to save Ladybug and stop the akumatised victim from getting away. He wished that it didn't all come down to this, but he had to try the best that he could, even if he had already used his cataclysm on the road.

He used his staff to whack the night burglar as he struggled to escape, this enabled Chat some time to break Ladybug free of the handcuffs. Ladybug placed out her hands and widened them as much as she could before Chat slammed his baton against the small chain and they both heard the sound of metal breaking and falling to the ground.

"Nice going Chat." She thanked him, patting him on the shoulder before the night burglar continued to fire handcuffs at the pair.

He growled at the heroes. "No one gets to do what they want around here! Anyone who is against me can face the pain I did!" He cried, firing several more handcuffs at them.

The pair managed to dodge all of them, except when Chat lost his focus only for a second and then he was handcuffed and pinned to the ground, Ladybug had ran over to him but he pleaded that she must cleanse the akuma first, and as he heard another beep from his ring and see another paw disappear, his words sounded more anxious.

"Okay don't worry, I'll get you out of here." She assured him, standing up after kneeling down in front of her partner.

The night burglar was trying to escape by this point and didn't both using handcuffs on ladybug again, he tried with all his strength to break free. The cracks that formed around him in the solid road proved that he was making progress.

Ladybug had to act fast, it seemed like she had to use her lucky charm. She knew it would come to this; it was the only thing that could stop the akumatised victim almost every single time.

"Lucky Charm!"

With a whizz of her yoyo she spun it into the air, and then appeared a small key with a large key ring. It made her raise an eyebrow in confusion to such a strange item, but then she glanced over at Chat Noir and suddenly had a brilliant idea.

She quickly threw her yoyo at the night burglar to distract him for a moment before she used the key to unlock Chat Noir from his handcuffs and then help Ladybug with the rest of her idea. She gave him the rest of her lucky charm as she ran over to the money bag and slammed it against the ground, making the akuma escape. Meanwhile Chat used the large key ring to hold the night burglar's arms in place, and tightened at it as he struggled.

"No more evil for you akuma!"

Ladybug cleansed the evil within the butterfly and smiled and waved as it flew away. Then Ladybug waved her arm up into the sky and with a brilliant flash of pink light everything was turned back to normal. The akumatised victim turned back into a regular prisoner and questioned his whereabouts to himself as he scanned the area around him. It wasn't long before he turned to see Chat Noir and Ladybug bumping their fists together.

"Pound it!" They said in synchronisation.

Another paw was lost from his ring; he had to leave now before his transformation wore off, but saw that the akumatised victim was a prisoner and had to be returned to prison asap.

"Ladybug, I need to leave before my transformation wears off, you think you could take care of him?" He asked, gesturing to the prisoner.

"Sure thing, and nice to see you're doing alright." She replied with a caring smile, which made Chat blush in thought.

As he ran off he felt the flood of emotions gush through his body, he quickly hid somewhere and released his transformation to see an almost exhausted Plagg falling into the palms of Adrien's hands.

"Man that was tiring! I need cheese, stat!" Plagg demanded in a weak trembling voice.

Adrien sighed, annoyed at his kwami's lack of interest in anything else but cheese. His mind was too focused on what Ladybug just told him. It seemed like she did care about his feelings, but didn't return them. He loved that she cared, but wished she would share the same feelings that he did.

He decided not to focus on it right now as it was still dark out, and by the time he reached home it was nearly half past five in the morning. So he got changed and tried to make up the rest of his sleep.

Meanwhile, Ladybug had handed the prisoner back to the police and he was locked up in jail again, with another beep of her earrings she ran off to release her transformation.

Tikki flew into Marinette's hands with exhaustion, tired after every time the lucky charm was used. "I think we should both get as much sleep as we can."

Marinette sighed, looking at her phone for a brief moment to see that it was half past five in the morning, she gasped, and then made her way home to make up for as much sleep as she could before she would go to school.

But yet, something bugged Marinette as she readied herself for bed. She remembered quite clearly that during every battle the akumatised victim would ask for hers and Chat Noir's miraculous but this time he didn't, nor did he even attempt to grab them while they were tied down.

It bugged her and kept her awake for a short while, but eventually she was able to fall back asleep, only to be woken up half an hour later by her alarm clock. Today was going to be a very tiring day for both her and Adrien.

 **Nothing much happened in this chapter, but something big of course with the akumatised victim. Man, Thomas must really have these akumatised victims thought out really well because there is just so much you have to take into consideration when creating these villains every episode.**

 **Anyways, should expect the next Chapter by the end of the weekend. I have so much planned for this story that I can already see the big part (no spoilers ;)) happen now and you guys freaking out... XD Oh boy I think I just made you guys sit on the edge of your seats... XD Well, I am away from home at the moment so for now I'm just doing one every 3-5 days but when I go back I might update this story within 2-3 days ;)**

 **See you soon for Chapter 4! ^^**


	4. Someone Else

**Just got real behind on FanFictions and arts this weekend because I haven't had much time to myself since I've been away from home...but thankfully I'll be home on Tuesday so I will be able to do a Chapter sooner than you think ^^ This does mean that I might update this story more regularly but I do upload it to DeviantART as well and I usually like to keep my uploads consistent and have variety so...yeah. There will still be Chapters don't worry, I just don't know how frequent I can update while still keeping variety on DeviantART... ^^;**

 **Anyways, like I said in the previous Chapter I do have a lot planned for this story and I am really hyped to be writing this! It is just really nice to see how much love this story gets...and it's only three Chapters! XD I don't know how long this story will go for but it's a little early to tell, so for now I'll just see how I go :)**

 **Enjoy Chapter 4 of Revelations! :D**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 4 – Someone Else**

Marinette groaned as she heard her alarm, more than anything she wanted to hit the snooze button because she was beyond the state of going to bed and falling asleep. She got up and looked in the mirror to see bags under her eyes, she sighed as she looked over at Tikki.

"This is definitely going to be a long day..."

Meanwhile Adrien was still asleep as he forgot to set his alarm, Plagg was asleep also. The two of them were like this until there was the sound of a knock at the door. Adrien jumped awake out of his bed while Plagg panicked as he looked at the time briefly.

"You're going to be late!" He stated in a whisper tone due to someone being at the door.

Adrien clenched his teeth together in worry as he rushed around to get his clothes on, while asking who was at the door.

"Who is it?" He called out as he put his socks on.

"Nathalie." His father's assistant responded in her usual monotone voice. "Your car is waiting; you mustn't fall behind schedule Adrien."

Adrien felt his stomach growl, he missed breakfast. He must have slept in real late because of the akuma attack at 4am that night. So he quickly tied his shoelaces and brushed his hair before grabbing Plagg and his bag and then running out the door to his ride, forgetting to say goodbye to his father and Nathalie.

Luckily, Adrien made it just before the bell rang for class to proceed, most people were already inside the building but there were a few people slowly making their way in, as well as Nino waiting patiently for his best pal to arrive.

"Hey Nino, sorry I'm late." Adrien said, scratching the back of his neck apologetically with a sheepish smile.

Nino smirked at the blonde teen and wrapped his arm around his best bud. "Don't sweat it dude, I don't mind waiting." He assured him.

Adrien smiled, before yawning as the tiredness began to catch up him quickly. He was sincerely hoping that he wouldn't fall asleep during class, but to his surprise when he got to class, he saw Marinette struggling to keep her eyes open and Alya doing all that she could subtly so that the teacher wouldn't see to keep her focused and awake.

It didn't bother him much to see Marinette tired, he assumed she was up late the night before working on another design or possibly just getting up early and arriving on time which was an uncommon thing for her to do since he would almost always see her arrive sometime after class had started.

Class went on as normal, Adrien tried all he can to keep his heavy eyes from dragging his face down onto the desk to sleep, but it seemed that Marinette was struggling more as he could hear Alya whispering things to her and nudging her to keep her awake.

"Come on girl, wake up!" Alya whispered harshly, shaking Marinette slightly as to ensure the teacher would not notice.

Marinette mumbled as she continued to rest her head on the desk, it wasn't until Alya said Adrien's name to her in a whisper that she shot awake, looking around herself in awareness. She looked down at Adrien because Alya whispered his name to her, she thought she meant that he was doing something or trying to say something to her. However, she only saw Adrien looking a little bored of the lesson as his head rested in one of his hands. She gave the immediate assumption that he was still down about that situation he was in, it made her worry whether he was going to be alright, he had been like this almost all week at school, for some reason she wanted to make it her business by asking him what was wrong, yet her shyness prevented her from doing so.

During lunch, in order for Marinette to continue listening to Alya's conversation, she mentioned Adrien's name several times.

"How about I tell Adrien how much you like him?" She suggested with a smirk and a raised eye brow.

This made Marinette jump in shock and almost fall off the bench, she felt unbalanced for a short moment before she turned to Alya and returned from her shocked state.

"Please don't! I want to confess to him, you should know that!" She pleaded, clenching her hands together and biting her lower lip in anxiety.

Alya simply looked at how she made her best friend feel before cackling with laughter. "You know I was joking girl. I'd never do that, even if you asked me to because you're just so dam shy." She joked with a wide smirk at her traumatised friend.

Marinette sighed as she caught her breath before looking up to see Nino approaching the two.

"Hey ladies, I could really use your guys help with something." He asked, sitting in between the girls.

Alya rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, while Marinette was still recovering slightly from Alya's words.

"What is it Nino? You need more music suggestions or something to film?" Alya asked, smirking the entire way through.

Nino turned to Alya, not surprised at all with Alya's attitude towards him; he gave her a smirk before his expression turned serious. "No, I need both of you to help me with Adrien." He stated before pushing his glasses in a little.

Marinette felt her heart skip a beat the moment he said Adrien's name, her thoughts went wild with excitement. She was going to be helping Adrien, but she didn't know what, or how to help him for that matter, and she was relieved that she wasn't alone, but worried that Alya might push things.

Alya on the other hand, raised her eyebrows and glanced a playful smile towards Marinette who was now covering her face in shyness. "Really? Well I think Marinette and I could certainly give a helping hand, what's the issue?"

After taking in a deep breath, Nino's expression turned sadder as his lips curved more into an upside down smile. "Well, he just told me why he's been down in the dumps these past few days and he says that he could really use some advice from you guys." He explained, looking up at Marinette and Alya.

The two girls looked at each other in both shock and confusion. The wondered why Adrien would want help from two girls? They both knew very well that the four of them were good friends but they didn't expect Adrien to ask girls exclusively to help with a problem of some sort. And then, the thoughts of what his problem might be made Alay and Marinette's minds bubble with curiosity.

"What's the problem?" Alya asked.

"Advice on what?" Marinette added.

Nino looked around briefly before hovering his hands over the girls' shoulders to bring them in closer so he could whisper to them.

"He likes a girl, and I'm not sure who but I have a huge hunch she's from this school. He's been trying to ask her out but she keeps turning him down because of someone else. He couldn't tell me who she was so I was actually wondering if you two would have a clue as to who she might be?"

During and after that long explanation, thousands of thoughts and emotions ran through Marinette's head, causing her to collapse onto the floor in shock. Alya and Nino rushed to her side, Alya too was shocked about this and she would definitely be if Marinette's crush liked someone else. She glared at Nino and told him to go away, she should've seen that coming but she didn't.

Pressing her lips together firmly, she lifted Marinette up and gently shook her to try and wake her up; luckily Marinette hadn't caused a scene. But then, before Alya asked Nino again to leave, Adrien rushed over.

"Hey what happened here?" He asked in a panic as he saw Marinette's closed eyes and emotionless expression.

Hatred began to fill Alya's mind as she stared at the two boys, she felt so sorry for Marinette in that moment. She wished Nino never said that to them, Marinette especially. But at the same time, she felt regretful at herself because she never told anyone else about Marinette's huge crush on Adrien.

"Nothing to concern you boys, now leave us alone." She demanded in a harsh tone, lowering her eyebrows and giving a glare to both the boys.

Nino shrugged in confusion and frustration. "But, what's wrong with her? All I did was ask for your guys help with Adrien." He stated, frowning a little.

"Help with what?" Adrien asked, raising an eyebrow.

Nino turned to his buddy, and gasped when he realised that Adrien didn't know what Nino was asking the girls for. "Oh, I was asking them if they would know who that girl was that you liked."

Adrien's immediate reaction was frustration and confusion. "Nino! I know who she is!"

"Then tell me man!" He demanded, narrowing his eyebrows.

The blonde teen sighed and looked down. "I can't...I don't know who she is...but I do and...ugh this is so confusing!" Adrien cried, tightly grabbing his hair in intense stress and frustration.

This made Alya feel worse; she clenched her teeth and screamed at the two, which then made a scene. "Go away!"

Nino and Adrien jumped in surprise of Alya's sudden change in mood and her sudden strong negativity towards them. It made Adrien feel more concerned about Marinette in her state; Nino was more confused than ever as to why Marinette and Alya took such a strong reaction to his need of help for Adrien.

"We'll leave you two alone if you just tell us why Marinette is passed out?" Adrien asked in a serious tone.

"None of your business now that we both know you like someone else!" She cried, holding onto Marinette tightly, who was moaning and mumbling.

Adrien felt his body drop, but was still standing in front of the two girls next to Nino in shock, worry and confusion. The first thought that made him curious as to ask more was that he liked someone else? He wasn't sure what to make of that, he wanted to ask more but then Alya stood up and screamed at them again to leave them alone.

And so they did, not long later Marinette recovered and assumed that it was all a bad dream, but Alya reluctantly told her that it wasn't and it made Marinette bawl her eyes out in betrayal and the feeling of her heart being ripped out. It was the worse feeling she could feel on top of the less sleep she had.

"I can't believe this! How will I ever live now?!" Marinette cried, covering her face in her palms as her face began to turn red and wet from the upsetting tears.

"Don't you worry; I'll help you with this. I will do all I can to ensure that you get over Adrien as quickly and as smoothly as possible. Right after we find out who this other girl is." Alya assured her, resting her shoulder's on Marinette's.

The other girl to Marinette in that moment was what made her rage in jealously but then made her devastated that Adrien was interested in this other girl instead of her. She always thought that after all this time he liked her and was only being nice to her because he secretly had a crush on her, but now with the information confirmed right in front of her, she couldn't bear to accept it.

Later on after school, Alya walked Marinette home while avoiding Adrien and Nino for the rest of the day until they were both at Marinette's home. Luckily Marinette's parents were too busy helping customers and baking pastries in the kitchen to see Marinette looking down more than usual.

Alya was the first to go up the stairs and the first thing she did was angrily take down the pictures of Adrien without even asking Marinette if she wanted them taken down, but only assumed so after what happened.

She couldn't believe it either, Adrien liked someone else, and was okay admitting it in front of Marinette, it made her hatred for him rise to a boil. It was nothing like Adrien at all, she was beginning to think that Adrien may have been possessed or something. But with the serious look on his face when he talked about her, it all seemed to be true.

Marinette would never be able to look at Adrien the same way again.

The heartbroken navy haired teen slumped up the stairs and fell silently into her bed, mumbling things into her pillow as she sobbed, not wanting to look up at her room anymore. She heard the sound of posters coming off walls and then being scrunched up. Deep inside she didn't want Alya to do all of this for her, because she didn't hate Adrien but she was devastated by the fact that he had a crush on some other girl that wasn't her. The good news in all of this that was buried under much doubt and hatred was for the fact that Adrien still liked Marinette as a friend.

After all the posters had been removed, Alya gave the walls a good clean with a few wet wipes as those posters had been hanging there a long time. She turned to Marinette to ask about her desktop screen too, but she saw that Marinette just wanted to be alone.

"Do you need some time to yourself?" She asked, sitting next to Marinette on the bed.

A soft mumble of agreement was heard from beneath the Marinette's breath, Alya nodded then slowly left the room while looking at Marinette in deep concern, extremely worried that her friend may not act the same way after all of this.

Shortly after Alya left, Marinette sat up and wiped her tears as she looked at the bare walls in her room. She didn't realise how much space she had on the wall that she had occupied for Adrien's posters. With a deep sigh, she got up and found all the posters scrunched up in her bin. She unfolded one and sat it next to her on her bed.

"Why did you do this to me? You make me feel pain..." Marinette cried softly.

She grabbed another tissue before looking again at the poster. His shiny golden hair reflected off the poster and his glistening emerald eyes made her heart sink a little. He was just too precious to her for her to give up on over another girl.

Marinette wouldn't stand in his way or force Adrien to like her instead of someone else. She would respect him and slowly move on. She knew that it was going to take a very long time for that to happen but it seemed like the only fair option at this moment.

It was going to be a very painful journey for her to take on, especially as she was finishing up her 9th grade studies.

What Marinette didn't know was at that very moment, Adrien was on his way to Marinette's place as Chat Noir to apologise but then suddenly realised what he was doing. He couldn't apologise to her without her being confused about why Chat Noir was apologising to her. He felt heavy inside, he didn't want to tell anyone about his infatuation with Ladybug but dropping small hints was all his friend wanted, and the first thing he should've seen coming was for the fact that Nino asked the girls for help.

He wanted to check on her, and if she was suffering emotionally he would apologise, but he didn't know how to apologise to her without it sounding weird. So he decided to try and help her instead of apologising, even if an apology was all he wanted to say to her.

There was a knock on Marinette's window, this startled Marinette and made her throw the poster off the bed abruptly, and she turned to see Chat Noir at her window, waving to her.

Rolling her eyes, she opened her window slightly to talk to Chat Noir. "What do you want?" She asked bluntly.

Chat Noir analysed her for a quick moment, he could see suffering, pain, and frustration in her eyes, and judging by the redness in her eyes as well as the bags underneath them she needed to sleep and she had been crying. He didn't realise how much him liking another girl affected Marinette.

"Mind if I come in?" He asked politely.

Her blue eyes narrowed at the cat, he wasn't the person she wanted to see right now, but she was relieved that it wasn't Adrien or Alya for that matter, she felt more content with Chat but felt like he had no idea what pain she was going through.

"Why?" She questioned him.

Chat shrugged and looked down. "Can't I talk to you, Princess?" He said, smiling almost gleefully.

With a sigh and feeling like she didn't have much and felt like she needed someone around her just to hear her words, even if that other person had no clue what was really going on.

"Fine, come in."

 **Ugh, stupid trip getting in the way of this FanFic...I seriously wanted to upload this Chapter a lot sooner but then I kept on getting busy and dragged out to social events and so on. Well, on a good note I finally managed to upload Chapter 4 and the next Chapter should be uploaded by the end of the week ;)**

 **Hope you enjoyed the Chapter and see you soon for Chapter 5! ^^**


	5. An Understanding

**Sorry I didn't do this sooner, but I just want to keep balance with deviantart and FanFiction. It's not that I don't like writing this, believe me I really do, it's just that I need to keep variety in what I upload that's all... *shrugs* And besides, sometimes it's nice to see how excited you guys are for the next Chapter.**

 **60 Followers!? In only 4 Chapters?! This story has become my most followed FanFic! :D Wow I am really surprised by you all! ^^ Thank you for your continuing support and hope that you all join in on the ride of this story with me! :D**

 **On one final note before I get into the Chapter, I've already seen episode 15 and...OMG *screams and faints* I love it! *faints again* Now I actually have to change a few things that were going to happen in this Chapter so it corresponds with that episode! XD**

 **Enjoy Chapter 5 of Revelations! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 5 – An Understanding**

Marinette opened the latch from her ceiling door to her balcony, and then sounds of steps proceeded down the ladder and then landed softly onto the wooden floor.

Chat Noir smiled at Marinette before looking around, instantly seeing pictures of his secret identity plastered over all of her walls and her desktop screen. This caused an intense wave of a warm blush to come across his cheeks, but then guilt struck through him as he slowly began to realise how much she cared for him.

He was taken out of his guilt and shock when Marinette spoke almost insultingly towards him. "So, what do you want? You obviously have a reason as to why you're here in my room." She explained, arms folded and looking slightly away from the cat in disgust.

Chat Noir could feel how much his words and feelings for Ladybug hurt her, if only she knew the truth...and if only he did too. He sighed as he sat on the bed and looked down shyly but full of guilt and regret.

Marinette turned, she saw a saddened Chat Noir, she grew surprised as her eyes widened and her arms fell freely against her sides. She didn't expect to see Chat Noir in her room looking so down on her words. But then she quickly puffed a bit of air out of her mouth and turned away, as she realised that it was exactly the pain she was feeling.

She sighed, eventually feeling on the same emotional level as Chat. She turned and saw him with his heavy head hanging low and resting deeply within the palms of his hands.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Look, I've just been going through a lot lately..." She admitted, rubbing her arm nervously.

Chat looked up at Marinette, seeing the hurt in her blue eyes. He didn't like hurting her, even though if it was only being truly honest with her. He never really wanted to tell Marinette about his feelings towards Ladybug, he just felt so unsure around her, and when the thought came across his mind, he just felt like telling her wasn't going to lead anywhere good.

So he had kept it to himself, until Nino forcibly made him admit that he liked someone, but he didn't mention who for the sake of his secret identity. He wanted to punch Nino for that, but knowing all too well that it would just lead to further problems down the stream, so he held it in and decided that when it built up to a boiling point, he would scream to himself in his room.

He could tell just by looking her that his words had done much damage to her; he examined her room once again, and saw the desktop screen fade away, making him feel deep inside like he was fading away. He felt so regretful and remorseful that he wanted to apologise to her then and there, but nothing but confusion would take over Marinette's mind and questions would be shot at him, causing things to get worse.

There was no way he was leaving until he could apologise to her, or even help her in the least get through this pain. He couldn't help but feel like he had hurt himself deep down, as if he and Marinette shared a strong connection that they didn't know about.

"I see..." He replied, releasing his hands from his face and resting them on the bed, slouching a little. "I have to admit that I've been through pain today too, but it's probably not as bad as yours." He admitted.

Marinette pouted as she narrowed her eyebrows in feelings of being insulted, she turned away from him as she quickly realised that she did indeed have it bad. Adrien liked another girl that wasn't him; he didn't like Marinette in the same way that she liked him. Although there was never any confirmation that Adrien didn't like Marinette in that way, there was no way he would like both her and someone else. She felt like all this time she was being too optimistic and naive, never brave enough to show a simple sign to him.

Sobs were all that Chat could hear, he felt rock hard inside and wanted to cuddle her and assure her that things would turn out alright in the end, and how sorry he was for making her feel this way. Deep down, he felt like maybe this wasn't such a great idea, but he was willing to give it a try, regardless of his bad luck.

He stood up, gently touching Marinette's shoulder as he shed a few tears in remorse and deep regret, his frown never to be lifted with him seeing Marinette like this. It made his heart sink and shatter, he felt all too much for caring about Marinette now more than anything else. It wasn't like him, but seeing someone, especially a girl like this made him feel bad for them, especially if it was his fault in the first place. He was never the bad buy, and never wanted to be, all he wants to do is set things right so that everyone is happy.

Marinette closed her eyes tightly, but then she shuddered a little when she felt the cool touch of Chat's hands on her shoulders. She wanted to embrace him, but she didn't want to at the same time. She didn't really like him, and felt like this was an invitation for Chat to be flirty with her. She gently pushed his hands off her as she sniffled and then moved to her bed, clasping her hands together as she rested her body on the soft mattress.

"I'm only trying to help you." Chat assured her, approaching her bed and sitting on the far edge, as to keep his respectful distance.

The navy haired girl covered her face with her pillow, sobs and cries were all that was heard from underneath that pillow. She mumbled something but Chat couldn't make it out. While she was like this, Chat too yet another good look around her room, and saw just how much she really liked him, he had never realised before and should've known all those times Marinette was stuttering and being clumsy around him. Yet, something had come to mind about these photos, they weren't here last time he was in Marinette's room with the video game tournament.

He wondered if her crush on him was recent, or was it long term and she just hid the photos away when he came over? Either way, she liked Adrien, and he adored the fact that he did, but he was so heavy with guilt and regret that he couldn't feel the happiness in Marinette crushing on him. All his negative emotions came crashing down as she realised by seeing all the evidence around her room, he saw that she truly cared for him. It made his heart sink that she felt like this.

"And...I know that I don't know what's really going on but...I'm sorry." He said apologetically, trying to cover himself up reluctantly.

Marinette looked up and saw that Chat was looking at her pictures of Adrien stuck to her wall, she was starting to think that he knew what the problem was, but then again she doubted that Chat would understand the pain she was going through and what the root of her problem was.

"What would you know? And why apologise when it has nothing to do with you?" She asked, sitting up while rubbing her eyes.

He sighed, if only she knew the truth...he thought. "Look, I'm just saying that I'm here for you Princess when you need me." He said with an assuring smile, kneeling against her bed.

Rolling her eyes as she detected the flirtatious side of him coming out, she sighed and laid back down and turned away from the cat, making his cat ears drop a little in neglect.

"You don't understand..." She cried softly, crawling herself up into a ball as she wrapped her arms around her legs. "You don't understand the pain of knowing that someone you loved loves someone else!"

He now had every right and more freedom to say what he wanted around her. "Look, you never know...that person might like you back too." He said without even thinking, before quietly gasping and blushing slightly.

Marinette turned to face him, not noticing the shy and embarrassed look on his face. She glared at him, as she was beginning to think that Chat was only here to stalk her, even if she was fully aware that he was.

"How would you know!? You're just a pretty boy cat that jumps rooves and fights villains; you know nothing about what I'm going through!" She scoffed at him, crying still as she crossed her arms and stared at the ceiling, firmly pressing her lips together.

Although Chat liked that she complimented him on his looks, there was more negativity to outweigh that small compliment to make him look down and close his eyes tightly as he felt tears emerging. It hurt inside, with every word she said about him being worthless to her, he wanted to show her his true self more than ever, but could hear Plagg inside screaming no.

"I understand, I'm sorry I made you feel worse..."

Another quick sniffled in response before Marinette waved her hand at him. "Just go!" She cried, burying her head deeper into her pillow in tears.

Within seconds of her saying that, he left silently, but she knew the expression on his face when he left was pain and hurt from her mean words, but she couldn't help but insult him. She was at her all time low in her emotions and felt almost guilty she had to let it out on her crime fighting partner.

Marinette wished that cat shouldn't have shown up in the first place, it did nothing but make her feel worse about her situation. She didn't know what to do; she cared about Adrien too much to get over him soon. She wished summer break would come already so she wouldn't have to see his face for nearly a whole two months, and by the time her next year of schooling came around she would be fully over him and proud of herself.

Changing back into his normal self, Adrien fell into his bed, with Plagg sitting at Adrien's desk looking at the Ladybug blog. "I still don't know what you see in her, you don't even know who she really is!" He exclaimed.

With a grunt of annoyance, Adrien lifted his head a little and snapped at his kwami. "Can you not do that right now!?" He cried, before burying his face in his pillow, which was soon to become wet with his fallen tears.

Adrien didn't know what to feel, the only feelings he had were hurt, sadness and intense remorse for Marinette. It angered and frustrated him that he left Marinette in this state without even realising why up until he saw the obvious reason printed on every wall of her room.

Marinette liked Adrien, if only as Chat he could do something, but it was much too hard to do without revealing who he really was underneath the mask. But then he realised the possible outcome as Plagg began to say it to him, to make him realise if he did make that move what would happen.

"I don't think revealing who you really are, isn't going to make her feel better, she's in too much stress and negativity. And it's clear that she doesn't really like you as Chat Noir so I don't see any good out of that." Plagg explained, seeing Adrien sit up and stare out his window with teary green eyes.

The blonde teen sighed as he saw the sky was still a crisp and vibrant blue, if only his mood reflected the sky, then he would be as happy as the day that shone brightly and casted contrasting shadows throughout his bedroom.

"I know...I just don't know how to help her...or apologise to her as me now..." He said, looking down, remembering how protective Marinette's best friend was. "And with Alya around, I'm sure that I won't be able to be in Marinette's line of sight with her around." He explained, sitting on the edge of his bed and playing around with his ring.

Suddenly, an idea occurred to Plagg. He gasped with a widened smile as he flew up to his owner. "I have a brilliant idea!"

Adrien looked up at his kwami, seeing the optimism and excitement in his little black face made him widen his eyes a little in curiosity but yet still depressed because he knew that some of Plagg's ideas weren't the greatest.

"Turn up as Cat Noir and lead her away from Marinette. I'm sure that she'll leave Marinette alone because of her blog and all. So that'll give you the perfect opportunity to talk to Marinette formally and alone."

He was surprised at his kwami; he didn't expect Plagg to have such a smart idea in that tiny little mind of his. A smile grew across his lips as he stood up and headed over towards the window.

"Plagg, I never thought I'd say this before but you're a genius!" He complimented, with now a determined expression on his face.

Plagg discussed the rest of his idea to Adrien. He was definitely looking forward to apologising to Marinette tomorrow. If not, he would try it again on Friday, and he'd keep on trying until he had to think of something else.

So as Thursday morning arose, so did Adrien, feeling determined and confident more than ever to talk to Marinette. With a serious expression he got out of bed and got dressed.

Meanwhile, Marinette had not gotten much sleep, as her pillow was wet from her never ending tears and she stayed up until 1am crying and talking to herself about all the little things she did for him after all this time. She didn't know if she could face school today, all of her classes were with Adrien sitting directly in front of her, what was she to do?

But then her parents called out to her, saying that her breakfast was already made for her. It seems that she didn't have any choice, so she got up with a big yawn and stretched slowly before making her way downstairs for breakfast.

As she ate, she thought of how she could get through her first full day of knowing about the mystery girl Adrien liked, that more than likely wasn't her, in her books anyway. She hoped that Alya would be there every step of the way to support her and make her feel as comfortable as possible. Marinette knew how supportive and protective Alya was to her, they had been best friends for what seemed like eternity, so there was no way Alya was going to have Marinette feeling down under her watch.

On her way to school, sure enough was Alya with papers in her hands. Waving with a small smile as she approached the slumped and depressed navy haired girl, she wrapped her arm around her shoulder then pointed to the papers in her hand.

"I have a whole list of ways to stop thinking about 'him' and ways to distract you when 'he' is around." She explained, gesturing quotation marks around mentioning Adrien with her fingers. "Also, when you feel comfortable, i want to get down onto cracking who is this mystery girl he likes."

Seeing that Alya had all bases covered for her, she smiled brightly as she embraced her best friend, grateful that she was there for her when she needed her. Marinette could see going through the day with a breeze with Alya's assistance, she did not dare think if Alya were to fall sick and stay home, and then she would have no choice but to have the rushing thoughts of yesterday crash into her mind.

They arrived to school just before the bell rang, as to give enough time for Adrien and Nino to be already inside prepping for their first class. Marinette took in a deep breath before entering the classroom, and assurance from Alya that she was strong enough to do this.

With confidence within her, she walked into her classroom, immediately avoiding any possible eye contact with Adrien as she walked to her seat then looked out the window to further prevent eye contact with Adrien. She smiled as she was relieved that she had made it this far without even looking at him, but yet she could feel the presence of two emerald eyes looking at her.

Adrien looked at her, and could see that she was managing well, but when he turned to see Alya giving him the glare of death, he knew exactly why. Alya was in full swing for protecting Marinette from anymore hurtful words or actions from him and Nino, but especially him.

Class commenced and Adrien more than anything else wanted to look at Marinette and talk to her, but feeling the sting of Alya's glare on him made him shiver in fear of what she might do. He worried that she may make a scene just to get him out of class or warn him with a death sentence after class.

Although it didn't seem like much, now that Adrien was less tense than he was yesterday, but still full of hurt and regret, he could see that Marinette's crush on him really meant something to her. It made him sigh heavenly, and it was enough to make Nino notice and smirk at him.

"You thinking about someone?" He suggested, winking at him.

Adrien looked up and realised what Nino just asked him, he sighed because he was thinking about Marinette. He shook his head and gave a sheepish smile to his friend. While from the seats above, Marinette tried as hard as she could to avoid looking at Adrien at all costs, while Alya continuously glared at the two boys.

Once class had ended and first break had begun, Adrien decided to unleash Plagg's idea so that Marinette wouldn't have to suffer any longer like this, even if it had been only a day since she had known.

Hiding in the bathroom, Plagg flew out and saw the determined and confident expression on his owner's face, knowing all too well that it was because of his idea from the day before.

"I take it you want to take my idea into action?"

Adrien nodded. "I definitely do. Claws out!"

 **A plan of Plagg's Adrien accepts and is willing to try out? Man, is Plagg a genius or what? XD *sigh* well I do apologise again for not updating this sooner, I should really stick with a schedule...that and I should upload more things to DeviantART more often so that I can update this faster.**

 **So how do you think the plan will unfold? Will Adrien get his chance to sort things out with Marinette? Will find out soon in Chapter 6! See you all then! ^^**


	6. A New Victim

**I think I should stick to a proper schedule when it comes to updating this story, I mean I have one for the other FanFic I'm working on at the moment (every Friday for that one), so maybe I should find specific days of the week in which I upload? Now, what I was thinking was Sunday and Wednesday but it's not definite, remember I upload this to deviantART as well ;)**

 **Anyways, as I am reading through this story myself, it makes me think how clueless Adrien is not to figure out Marinette is Ladybug...you know what I mean right? Lol I feel like one of you guys XD So I already have thought as far ahead as the real big part, which I am not going to reveal, but I'm sure you guys will love it...and after 70 followers who wouldn't? Lol.**

 **Also with the Cat Noir, Chat Noir thing...I think I might just end up using both, but I use Chat because it sounds more like a name when Ladybug calls out for him, kind of weird for her to call out 'cat', you know what I mean?**

 **Enjoy Chapter 6 of Revelations! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 6 – A New Victim**

With a flash of green light, Adrien was transformed into Cat Noir. He was determined that Plagg's plan might just work, he was betting quite a lot on it. He wanted to set things right with Marinette, but yet he hadn't thought past distracting everyone so he could talk to Marinette alone, it was because he wasn't certain his plan was going to work, yet his determination led him to taking it into action.

Chat jumped from roof to roof of the school, and then he stood tall and proud on top of the highest point as he looked down at all the students. He examined the students for Marinette and found her with Alya in their usual hang out spot on the bench. It was then that he called out for everyone's attention.

"Hey everyone! It's me Chat Noir! I'll be doing interviews with whoever's out the front of the school first!" He called out to the students, waving his arms around.

Everyone looked up; Alya looked up and gleamed with a smile when she heard him say the word 'interview'. Next to Alya, Marinette rolled her eyes as she saw the cat gloating and asking for attention, she didn't seem surprised at all that he was like this, but it did confuse her a little as to why he would do it during school hours. She raised her eyebrow slightly before turning to see Alya running after Chat who had now leapt down and started running towards the front of the school.

Chat watched Alya's every move; he knew that just out the front of the school wasn't going to be far enough. So he thought as he went along. And then, a light bulb switched in his head as he stood in front of the stairs in front of the school.

As soon as Alya was spotted, he shouted out to her and pointed to her.

"You, Alya. I heard you're the best journalist around here, how about you meet me in front of the Louvre in a few minutes? I'll be waiting!" He said, before leaping off onto another roof, making all the students sigh and walk back in, while Alya screamed loud enough to the point in which she couldn't even hear her fan girl scream anymore.

She whipped out her phone, forgetting about school and Adrien and Marinette, she ran as fast as she could out of the school and towards the Louvre.

This was his chance, Chat led Alya a few rooves down before he vanished from Alya's sight. He made sure she'd follow his path towards the Louvre so that she was convinced, and then he crept his way back to the school. He did feel really sorry for Alya though, he hated to give anyone false information. But for some reason his only concern was to help Marinette feel better and now since Plagg's idea was going well so far, he wasn't sure what he would say to her.

So he hid near the school and transformed back into Adrien and running inside, ensuring that he had enough time to speak to Marinette about how he deeply sorry he is for hurting her feelings. He felt like it was his fault when it was Nino who forced the words out of him. Perhaps it was best to tell her his true feelings towards Ladybug, yet he was sure that it would only make her feel worse, he felt so conflicted on what he was going to say.

Telling Marinette that he loved Ladybug wouldn't help the situation at all, he wished there was a simple solution to all of this, but the only thing his mind was telling him was to tell her the truth.

Adrien walked casually into the school and then found Marinette sitting by herself; he could hear her talking to herself, which was a peculiar trait that Adrien didn't know about, he raised an eyebrow in thought before he started walking towards her. As he drew nearer to her, he heard a small gasp, and then Marinette looked up with shock as her eyes widened and she clenched her teeth in deep worry and fear.

Ever since she knew, Marinette didn't know how to act around Adrien anymore, she wasn't sure whether she should be rude and protective like Alya or act like it never happened, but she didn't want to seem like that sort of person. Before she was about to speak, Adrien hushed her and gently tugged at her arm gesturing towards one of the classrooms.

Marinette simply agreed, worried as her heart began to beat out of her chest. She felt the bubbles inside her fizz brightly; she felt her crush for Adrien still lingering onto her, not giving up. She saw how softly he had grabbed her arm, so she could tell that this wasn't going to involve him getting mad at her.

When he stopped in an empty classroom, he let go of her and hung his head low with guilt. Marinette knew deep down from Alya's words that she shouldn't be with Adrien after everything that happened, but yet she was starting to think that she was making too much of a big deal about it.

"I'm sorry; I wish I knew your feelings for me." He admitted, looking up into her crystal blue eyes.

Her cheeks turned to crimson in colour, her mouth locked in an open position while her pupils shrunk to their smallest point, and nothing but the small detail of her iris and pupil were to be seen.

Before even realising what he had just said to Marinette, she responded. "H-h-how d-did you...kn-ow?" She stuttered, utterly speechless that he somehow knew.

She began to think as her heart raced and her head started to feel heavy, she tried to remember of any times that he may have figured it out, but she couldn't. All of the times when she was around him it was always the same. He would give a friendly smile and a wink while she would laugh nervously.

How could he have known? She thought in a panic as Adrien rested his hands on her extremely tense hard rock shoulders.

Adrien had realised what he just said, but showed no expression in realisation, he looked into her eyes and smiled heavenly.

"I've known for a while." He said with a smile, before backing away a little, seeing that Marinette was still traumatised.

"But...but..." She muttered, pointing a shaken finger at him before she clenched her fists.

Adrien looked away in hesitation, seeing that now would be the best time to tell her about his feelings for Ladybug, but he felt so reluctant to because of the shock he had just given her by him knowing of her feelings. Looking at her expression that was printed all over her, he could tell that she still did, he admired it for a little but he had to face the fact and tell her the truth.

With a deep sigh, he turned his back to Marinette for a moment, looking out the window before hanging his head low. "Marinette...I need to tell you something..."

She couldn't take any more shocking news, she wanted to run and scream but at the same time she wanted to bawl her eyes out since Adrien knew she liked him but he still like someone else instead of her. Her heart grew confused and hurt; she didn't know what to feel, so she stood there like a statue.

Adrien approached her, taking in another deep breath before he began to speak.

"Marinette...I-"

A loud crash was heard from outside, causing the ground to shake from beneath them, it startled both Adrien and Marinette, causing them to gasp in reaction.

"What was that!?" He exclaimed, running towards the door with Marinette following behind.

As he opened the door, he saw a floating figure in the sky, and by the looks of his mask he appeared to be akumatised. He looked like a casual man but yet his clothes were torn in such a way that made him look like he was broke and lived on the streets, yet aside from his clothes he looked well groomed.

"Oh no!" Marinette cried, clenching her hands near her mouth.

This was definitely the wrong time for him to be, he didn't want this happening now but he had no choice. Adrien left Marinette and dashed for the men's bathroom, as he ran he could hear the villain introducing himself.

"I am The Quitter! No one makes the rules but me! You will quit being scared and all will work in dangerous construction sites until you can't!" He declared.

Marinette examined the akumatised person, but could see that it must have been a local civilian. She looked around and ran back into the classroom right before a formal tie was wrapped around everyone's neck and they were all forced to obey The Quitter.

Simultaneously, Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up just as The Quitter made all the students disappear making them do work for him, rounding up more people to take control over. Some of them were suspended in mid air and floating over towards buildings that were still in construction.

"Ladybug, you're here?" Chat asked, feeling his heart beat faster in her presence.

"Yes, and so are you, what's the big deal? We're here to get the akuma. Is something wrong?" She asked, showing no amusement in her expression.

Chat bit his lower lip but then ducked as The Quitter began to throw heavy and large objects at the pair, they both split and dodged the attacks, Ladybug almost being hit but Chat saving her and resulting in him bruising his leg.

"Are you okay?" Ladybug asked, worried about his partner.

Chat hummed and nodded in reply as he got himself back up. "What do we do?"

Ladybug looked around and saw how much damage had been done to the school already; she had to find a way to stop this akumatised victim before her whole school was destroyed. And then, with a light bulb switching on inside of her she gasped with a smile as she grabbed Chat's hand and pointed towards the front door.

"Distract him and make sure he heads over towards the front of the school. I'll try and figure out where the akuma is hidden." She explained, beginning to run away.

"Wait!" Chat exclaimed reaching a hand out before ducking again. "What do I do afterwards?"

She sighed, it seemed like she was getting all sorts of different reactions to her today. She was beginning to not handle it all, but as she pressed her lips together firmly and held her tongue on saying anything insulting to him like she said to him yesterday.

"Just keep him distracted, do you cats have poor memory?" She asked as a joke before running off.

So Chat went to distract The Quitter by waving his staff around and managing to dodge his attacks. Meanwhile Ladybug was hiding away so she couldn't be seen and analysed the akumatised victim. As she looked closely, she could see that one thing was oddly coloured and was wrapped around the man's neck.

"I've never seen a worn out tie look that colour before..."

But then, The Quitter turned around and then threw a large wooden crate at her, she used her yoyo and spun it around before the fast spinning of her managed to slice through the thick wood and render her unharmed. She then swung from another building and tried to make her way to the front of him to get the akumatised object.

After much more fighting and defence, Ladybug managed to get the object and cleanse the akuma, turning everything back to normal with the school and all the students returning. By this time, the second class was over and now it was lunch break.

The heroic duo touched fists with a proud smile before running off. Marinette couldn't help but realise that yet again the akumatised victim was not attempting or mentioned anything about hers and Chat's miraculous. She couldn't help but think that Hawkmoth was playing around with them.

Not long later, Marinette was looking around for Alya but couldn't see her anywhere, but right before she saw Alya's face, Adrien called from behind and made her jump, feeling startled.

"Marinette, can I tell you the rest of what I said...?" He asked, almost shyly as his expression posed a saddened theme.

She bit her lower lip, hearing running steps from behind and knowing very well that they were Alya's.

"Back off you, you go find your girl and stop hurting this one." She warned, grabbing Marinette by the shoulders and pulling her away from Adrien.

Marinette didn't want to be pulled away from Adrien, she could see in his emerald eyes that he wanted to tell her something important, she bit her lower lip in nervousness before stopping Alya from moving her. She brushed her hands of her shoulders and looked at her with a small smile of assurance.

"Don't worry, it won't take long. And I don't think it's anything bad." She assured him, leaving Alya slightly dazed and speechless as she saw her best friend walk up to the guy that made her cry.

Alya didn't know what to say, she was only protecting her best friend from harm, and Adrien talking to her in private only spelled bad news in her books, she wanted to go with and defend her in case Adrien did anything bad to hurt Marinette, but the assurance on that girl's face made her stay where she was, until Nino approached her and then she scoffed at him before walking away.

Adrien took her to the same empty classroom; he closed the door and saw that Alya didn't follow. He sighed in relief as he turned to see a more brightened Marinette but he could still see from her eyes that she was still in shock from before. Yet Marinette had assurance that whatever he was going to tell her wasn't going to be bad.

But then, when she saw Adrien's expression turn to remorse and sadness, she immediately regretted assuming that things were going to be alright. Whenever Adrien pulled an expression like this, it meant that he had some bad news to tell her, and her assumptions were correct when he started to talk.

"Marinette...there's something you need to know..." He started to say, nervously rubbing his arms and looking down in reluctance to see her expression. "That other girl...I know of and you may know of but...it's really hard to explain."

This made Marinette's heart drop as she could feel the tears returning, realising that she may know who this girl is that he likes too. Curious, she asked him.

"Who is it? I won't hurt her or anything...I'm not that kind of person..." Marinette assured, biting her finger slightly as she rubbed her foot against the ground nervously.

Adrien looked up, seeing that Marinette was far too nice to hurt her, he knew her well enough only to say mean things when they were provoked back at her, he knew Ladybug wouldn't say anything about Marinette because she told him that she was cute. He rested his hands on Marinette's shoulders yet again and gave Marinette a heavenly expression, letting his love for Ladybug show.

"I know this may sound difficult to believe, but I have a crush on Ladybug." He admitted, looking down shyly but still resting his hands on her shoulders.

He could feel them tense up, unfortunately he was expecting this to happen, and he knew he would hurt her when she found out. He knew that telling Marinette that he had a crush on a heroine was going to make her upset, as it was cliché for girls to fall in love with him in either form, and it was the same for Ladybug, he knew that Theo had a crush on her too, but somehow Adrien's love for Ladybug felt stronger because they saw each other almost every day, he got to see her fight and that determined look on her face gave him so much confidence.

Yet the confidence was not present as he backed away from Marinette who had an expression that made Adrien raise an eyebrow and gasp in confusion.

"Are...you okay?" He asked, reaching a hand out.

Marinette backed away, her pupils almost invisible to be seen and her mouth open with shock as her astonishment reached ultra maximum levels, she bolted out of the room, giving no verbal response to Adrien.

Adrien sighed, knowing that he wouldn't receive any response that would make him feel better. So he left the room feeling heavy hearted but yet deep down proud that he told her the truth. He just hoped that after all this he and Marinette could still be friends, he know it was cliché but he would like to remain friends with Marinette, sometimes she surprised him at the most unlikely of times. He liked that about her.

So Adrien headed to find Nino, while Marinette was with Alya interrogating her every word, he knew that now word would be out. But at the same time, he was proud of his crush on Ladybug, he loved her more than anyone else. So if the whole school were to know, so be it.

 **I got a little lost in the middle there but I pulled through in the end. I hope all of you are managing to keep up with the storyline because I think it's jumping all over the place and missing important facts. And yes I am well aware of the obvious hints that Ladybug likes someone named Adrien then Adrien finds out Marinette likes him...I'll get around to all of that in the next Chapter or so I assure you ;)**

 **So I'm not sure when the next Chapter will be up but expect it up before the end of the weekend. For now I have to get to work on another Chapter for my other FanFic.**

 **See you all soon for Chapter 7! ^^**


	7. Another Attack

**Yet again, I was going to upload this sooner but family things got in the way so everything got delayed by like a day and a half so I do apologise for keeping you waiting a little longer than I promised, it's just I have a life and I have so many other things I'm working on right now.**

 **If you know me on DeviantART then you'd understand. If not, here's the short story. I'm working on two comics, this story and another story, as well as drawing Equestria Girl characters. Mind you, I have drawn Ladybug a few times, and I have drawn the ships twice. I plan on doing more fan-art too so if you're on DeviantART, try to find me ^^ the link to my page is on my FanFiction profile ;)**

 **Anyways, left a lot of things unsaid in the last Chapter didn't I? I'm pretty sure you guys are waiting for the full reaction from Marinette about him liking Ladybug and all. Well, here it is for you! :D**

 **Enjoy Chapter 7 of Revelations! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 7 – Another Attack**

"I can't tell you." Marinette muttered, looking down.

Alya placed her hands on her hips in frustration; she couldn't believe that Marinette wouldn't tell her what Adrien told him. Her eye twitched as she asked more questions as to why she wouldn't say.

"It's not your concern, Alya. I'll take care of it."

Those words coming out of Marinette's mouth only made Alya's confusion rise to fury and impatience, she wanted to know more than ever what he told her. But, seeing how content Marinette was while giving a serious face to her, she could tell that she had it under control. So, taking a deep breath, she looked away and smiled lightly at her.

"Okay, but I am here for you." Alya assured her, resting a hand on Marinette's shoulder in support.

After school, Marinette walked home alone, still dumbfounded by what Adrien told her. Her eye twitched as she walked, Tikki was calling out to her but Marinette wasn't responding. She was thinking of when he could've started liking her, and she wondered how this could have happened. Millions and millions of thoughts ran through her head that made her almost come to a complete stop when she was only a few feet away from her house.

"Marinette!" Tikki cried. "Could you listen to me?"

Marinette shook her head violently as she grabbed the hair on both sides of her head in stress and the feeling of being startled by something.

Tikki sighed. "Look, I know this is very shocking for you, but let's just get inside first."

The navy haired girl nodded silently, taking in a deep breath before she entered the bakery to see her mother at the cashier, she shot a shy grin and a wave to her mother as she walked on by, and when she saw her father she used the same gesture before going upstairs to her room.

Falling onto her bed, she stared at the ceiling, the millions of thoughts still rushing through her head. She hadn't given any verbal response to Adrien's confession yet because of Alya and for the fact that she didn't know what to say about it. It was utterly shocking and Ladybug was definitely one of the last people she was expecting him to like aside from Chloe.

The real question was how did Adrien have feelings for Ladybug when he's barely been around her?

It made her brain cogs go wild with intense thought as she tried to think of any possible time for her as Ladybug to interact with Adrien. She can only remember one time, and there was only eye contact and nothing else in that situation.

She thought it was a fan-girl crush at first, but seeing the dreamy look in Adrien's eyes made her think otherwise. All Marinette wanted to do was scream excitedly and cry in pain, having a double life was way too difficult for her to handle.

"I hate this! Why can't he like the real me!?" Marinette cried.

Tikki flew up next to Marinette's head. "Both you and Ladybug are the real you, you need to accept that Marinette." Tikki exclaimed.

Marinette sighed and sat up, seeing the poster she was holding onto a little while ago of Adrien. She smiled and a light shade of pink spread across her cheeks. Adrien liked her, the problem was it was Ladybug who he had feelings for and not for Marinette.

"If only I could show him who the real me is." She started to say, but then realised how that would turn out. "But I bet he wouldn't be expecting Ladybug to be me of all people, little clumsy and stuttering Marinette..." She frowned, getting up from her bed and sitting at her desk, leaving the poster on the bed.

Tikki perched herself on top of Marinette's computer with a smile of assurance. "Don't worry; I'm sure there's a solution to all of this." She assured before frowning. "Revealing yourself is very risky, I'm not sure if it's such a good idea to do that in front of your crush." She added.

The navy haired teen looked down and sighed as she nodded at her kwami. "I guess you're right, but now I don't know what to do! He loves Ladybug, but I'm Ladybug and I love him but he loves Ladybug and..." She cried, groaning at the end as she leaned her head against her chair, looking at the ceiling.

"Oh Marinette, I know you'll figure everything out in the end, you just need to stay positive." Tikki stated with a gleaming smile.

Marinette looked up at her kwami and smiled, glad that Tikki was always there to make her feel better, just like Alya was.

She still didn't understand why Adrien had feelings for Ladybug when Marinette knows for certain that they've only shared eye contact for a few seconds and that was it, there had to be another way around it but she just could figure it out, she groaned as she fell face first into her pillow, wanting to know why he liked her alter ego, yet at the same time she wanted to bounce with joy that he did like her, just not the half that liked him back and was desperately trying to show her affections to him.

Now that he knew about her feelings, he was still willing to admit he loved someone else which was in fact her alter ego. It just didn't make any sense, Marinette tried to sleep on it but she grew so frustrated, there was no possible way for Adrien to like Ladybug in that way unless he had known her personally.

The only person that would come remotely close to having constant interactions with Ladybug was Chat Noir, but Marinette seriously doubted that Chat Noir and Adrien was the same person. They were way too different, she knew Adrien as being reserved and kind, while Chat was making puns after every turn and constantly flirting with her. Their personalities differed so much, although they were both blonde she could never think of Adrien wearing a cat suit and flirting with her when she was Ladybug, it was too unrealistic for her to even imagine.

Meanwhile, Adrien was on his computer finishing his homework when Plagg couldn't stop talking about how shocked Marinette was when he told her about his feelings towards Ladybug.

"I just can't believe you worked up the courage to do that, even when you knew that she liked you, you still broke her heart!" Plagg exclaimed humorously as he ate a piece of cheese.

Adrien glared at his kwami, feeling insulted by Plagg's word. "Look, I told her the truth and that's that." He said in a serious tone, turning his head back to his computer.

Plagg rolled his eyes. "You are so clueless; did you see the look on her face when you told her the truth? She was absolutely gobsmacked by your feelings towards Ladybug!" He cackled in laughter.

The blonde growled at his kwami, knowing that he wouldn't help in this situation, but he was grateful that Plagg's idea actually worked; usually most of his ideas didn't and would get the two of them in trouble with the possibility of revealing Chat Noir's secret identity.

"Can't we talk about this later? I've really gotta get this done before tomorrow!" Adrien snapped, gesturing to his computer, which had an open document with half a page written.

"Fine..." He moaned.

Then it was Friday, the last day of school for yet another week. Most students were excited for Friday; meanwhile Marinette and Adrien just had so many thoughts fizzling in their minds. Marinette thought constantly about why Adrien had feelings for Ladybug, while Adrien had been thinking about for a few days now whether Ladybug likes this Adrien or someone else.

It was 7am, about an hour and a half before school started. Adrien woke up to a scream heard from outside his room, his upper body immediately bent up straight as he looked at the door, hearing running and things falling. He wanted to go out and see, but feared that there might be a fight going on and if he were to intervene things would get worse.

So he rushed to the door and kneeled down to peek through the key hole of the door. He saw a young woman beautifully dressed creating dresses with the flick of a large needle and thread, but the thing was that these dresses came to life, and they were attacking Nathalie.

"Plagg, wake up!" He whispered harshly to his kwami.

His kwami was peacefully snoring on the edge of Adrien's pillow, up until Adrien rushed over and flung the pillow off the bed, making Plagg emit a small squeal before he bumped himself against the wall.

"What?" Plagg groaned.

"Claws out!"

Plagg tried to get away, because he was too sleepy to even do this at time of the morning, but like every other time he didn't want to, Plagg was sucked into Adrien's ring which transformed him into Cat Noir.

He escaped through a window and climbed down, he didn't want Nathalie seeing Chat coming from Adrien's room, and it would be quite suspicious for a super hero to be walking out of his bedroom. He lifted his staff and scanned his house, zooming in through a window he could see the akumatised victim, her dress the longest kind he has ever seen, and to confirm that she was indeed akumatised, Hawkmoth's signature mask over the eyes was seen.

Chat thought about calling Ladybug, but at the same time he was worried whether she was even awake yet. He knew for one thing that it was 7am and the sun was shining brightly, but he knew nothing about her personal life so he didn't know whether she was even sleeping right now or not.

And the only thing he knew about Ladybug was for the fact that he liked a guy named Adrien, whom he wasn't sure was him or someone else. He wanted to know more than ever if it was him or someone else, even if it wasn't him at least he knows.

Then, he heard Ladybug from behind. Chat turned and noticed that there was a trail of destruction the led to the Agreste Mansion. Ladybug landed by his side and placed her hands firmly on her hips.

"So, what are we dealing with this early in the morning?" She asked, opening her yoyo to look inside.

Chat snickered, knowing that they have been up way earlier in the morning to deal with an akumatised victim.

"You mean our second earliest?" He corrected with a wink as he leaned in a little.

Ladybug pushed him away slightly. "Not now kitty, what's going on here? The destruction leads directly into the Agreste Mansion." She stated, pointing towards the front doors of the mansion.

The cat widened his eyes in surprise. "You know this place?" He asked, without realising that it was a silly question.

She snickered in response and poked his nose. "Of course I do silly; it's where the famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste lives. Now, how are we going to get inside?"

Chat wanted to suggest to Ladybug whether it was the Adrien that lived here was the one she liked, but saw that she was too focused on getting the akuma and fixing up all the destruction.

"There's a way." He implied, pointing to his window.

Ladybug widened her eyes after she examined closely what was in that room; it was no doubt that it was Adrien's room, it made her blush a light tinge of red. She grabbed her yoyo and flung herself towards the window and waiting for Chat Noir, also trying really hard to not examine all of Adrien's room.

As soon as Chat Nor arrived, he opened the window he had escaped from earlier and snuck in, gesturing Ladybug to follow. She climbed in and couldn't help but look around Adrien's room in thought and wonder of where he could be.

"You do realise that this is trespassing? What if Adrien- uh I mean Gabriel's son is in the bathroom or something?" Ladybug asked, with a ting of blush in her cheeks.

Chat bit his lower lip in nervousness; he should've seen the question coming. "Oh, well last time I checked he was on his way to school already." He explained nervously.

Before saying anything else, she thought about it, Marinette didn't think Adrien would leave so early for school, especially since he gets a private ride to school and it doesn't take long to get there. She decided not to over think it and simply nodded in reply.

They both then heard a crash sound coming from outside the room; the duo dashed to the door and leaned their ears against the door, hearing every detail to make out exactly what was going on.

"I am the greatest fashion designer in all of Paris. How dare Gabriel Agreste disgrace my name!" The akumatised victim cried.

Ladybug and Chat Noir had the same expression of slight shock on their face.

"She's after Mr Agreste!" Ladybug cried in a whisper.

Chat Noir kept a serious face on, he was thinking of a plan. Although initially he wanted Ladybug to come so she could think of something up but whenever she was around she gave him confidence.

"I have a plan; I'll go protect Da- Mr Agreste, while you find a way to cleanse the akuma." He instructed, opening the door slightly, looking around.

"Do you even know where to go?" Ladybug asked, raising an eyebrow as her hands rested firmly on her hips.

Stuttering a little to figure out the right words to say without blowing his secret identity, he looked at Ladybug with a sheepish smile. "Did you know that I'm actually good friends with Mr Agreste's son Adrien?" He said, shooting a guilty grin back at her.

Ladybug's eyes went wide, Adrien knew Chat Noir personally? She remembered back when Nathanael got akumatised and at school where Adrien asked about Chat. She guessed he wasn't lying about it, but she was still surprised to hear it.

Before Ladybug could say anything else, Chat was racing across the room on all fours while the akumatised victim was in another room. She saw him go up the stairs and turn a right, and then he disappeared. She huffed a puff of air through her nose before looking over to the other room where the akumatised victim was. The first thing she noticed was her amazing long dress; she began to adore the design as her creative mind came into play. This was a woman she could relate to on a certain level, but the meantime, she was currently their enemy and she had to find the akuma fast.

From a distance she analysed the victim, she couldn't see anything on her that would look like an object the akuma would touch first. She had no choice but to get her attention and then try to find the object, but by then she would be battling her.

The fashion designer was about to spin her needle around to create another dress that would come to life, Ladybug wrapped the string from her yoyo around her arm and yanked her backwards. It was then that the object in which the akuma had possessed was obvious.

"I need to get her long needle." She whispered to herself, while still having the woman wrapped up in her yoyo.

The woman broke free using her needle, and then glaring angrily at the young black spotted girl that stood only a few feet away from her.

"You're going to pay for that!"

Meanwhile, Chat had made his way all the way up the stairs and had a brief look at the time, it was half past seven, he had to hurry otherwise he would be later for school.

Despite hating his father for not letting him be free and have a happy life, he still cared for his father and as a respective hero he had no choice but to protect Gabriel, even if he was his mean and strict father.

The first thing he did before entering his father's office was knock, as he would always do as Adrien when he was summoned. There was no response. He knocked again but still no response. So Chat opened the door to see that his father was nowhere in the room to be seen. This caused Chat to panic anxiously as he realised he could've been too late.

"Father?" He called out, not caring that he was Chat Noir. "Where are you?"

Chat searched the entire room but Gabriel was nowhere to be seen.

 **Hmm...am I hinting at something towards the end there with Adrien's Dad? Well unfortunately you guys will have to wait a few days for the next Chapter ;D Also after watching the most recent episode, I thought throwing in a parallel with the parents like Marinette did when she was Ladybug at the bakery with her parents. ^^**

 **Well once again, thank you all for your reviews/favourites/follows. This is only the beginning! :D**


	8. Stressful Thoughts

**To be honest, I could've uploaded this Chapter a day sooner because I had nothing else to do, but I decided to take a mini break and leave this Chapter till today, don't worry I think I've worked out when every week I'll be updating this, you'll be seeing updates from this around twice a week and maybe three if I'm lucky.**

 **So that Means every Sunday/Monday and every Wednesday/Thursday, expect an update around those days. However those dates aren't always going to be like that since on February 8** **th** **I start my graphic design course which means I'll have less time to work on things like this, but I'll talk more about that when the date is closer.**

 **Anyways, hope you like what you've been reading so far. I'm not sure how long this story is going to be but I feel like I should pace it more...or speed it up I don't know. Oh, and if you also didn't get the idea already, this story contains my speculations from the show, so some of it may turn out right or wrong, no judging. ;)**

 **Enjoy the Chapter! :D**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 8 – Stressful Thoughts**

Chat ran back downstairs and saw that Ladybug was knee deep in battle with Hawkmoth's latest victim. Grabbing his baton, he leapt down and jumped high while waving his baton in a circular motion, proceeding to hit the woman. But then, he and the woman were in a sword fight, which luckily gave Ladybug some time to figure out how to stop her.

She didn't think of using her lucky charm just yet, even though she wanted to be back in time for school, she figured that there just might be a way to stop this akumatised victim without the use of her lucky charm, or Cat Noir's cataclysm for that matter.

There had to be way to grab the long needle and thread so she could capture and cleanse the akuma that was hidden inside. She swang her yoyo at it in an attempt to grab it while Chat kept the woman distracted. However the woman had quick reflexes and with a flick of her needle, the string from the yoyo fell to the ground and then eventually returning back into its case.

"Chat, keep her distracted while I think of an idea."

The black cat rolled his eyes, it wasn't as if he wasn't distracting her, he thought.

With a whizz of her yoyo, Ladybug decided to use her lucky charm so she could get this attack over and done with, she was sure that by this time she would be late for school. After a bright flash of bright red light, the object appeared and landed in Ladybug's hands.

"Scissors? What will these do?"

Chat saw the lucky charm, which was a pair of scissors completely covered in red with black polka dots to match a ladybug's colours. "Are you sure that's going to cut our way out of this?"

Ladybug rolled her eyes as she heard Cat Noir attempt to make another pun with her lucky charm. She looked around, seeing potential items that could help her in defeating the akumatised victim. An idea buzzed in her mind, but she required Cat Noir to use his cataclysm to make her plan work.

"Chat, use your cataclysm, over there!" Ladybug pointed.

Chat turned to the table, he didn't know why he had to use it on that, but shrugged as he summoned his cataclysm and proceeded over to the table. Then with luck, the woman jumped onto the table and flicked her needle to create a live dress to attack him. Luckily, Chat was able to use it on the table and the woman fell.

Ladybug threw her scissors directly at the thread that was keeping the woman and the needle connected. It fell within an instant and Ladybug cleansed the akuma. The woman reverted back to normal and the pair fist bumped each other.

As Ladybug was about to leave, Chat grabbed her hand. "Wait, I need to ask you something."

He couldn't hold it in any longer, his curiosity was killing him. He wanted to know more than ever if she loved Adrien who was secretly Cat Noir, or if they were someone else.

Ladybug heard her earrings beep, warning her that she didn't have much time left. "Make it quick, I'm going to change back soon." She said in a hurry, not seeing the worry and deep emotional feeling in Chat's eyes.

Chat took in a deep breath before asking, he had to make it quick. But then he started to have second thoughts, what if she didn't love him without the mask, more importantly he had been ignoring how Ladybug could have fallen in love with Adrien if that were to be the case, did they know each other in real life? He wondered.

He pressed his lips firmly together, building the confidence and simmering the curiosity with the question he had been dying to ask when she spoke of his name.

"Remember that Adrien guy you mentioned?"

The heroine widened her eyes and raised an eyebrow in suspicion; she didn't think he'd raise her crush again since she knew he wasn't the kind of person to be nosey in other people's business. A light shade of pink brushes against her normal coloured skin, tinting it to a small shy blush as she thought about Adrien.

"Yeah...?" She asked, almost nervously.

Chat bit his lower lip; he couldn't back out of the question now. He was either going to be the happiest person in the world, or will forever have to respect his lady's wishes and stay away from this other Adrien. He sincerely hoped that it was him under the mask that she loved, yet he had heavy doubts because there could be many other guys with the same name as him that she has affections for.

"I'm sorry for bugging you about it but, does he live here, by any chance?" He asked, rubbing his hand on his neck nervously, a movement he would usually make as Adrien.

Ladybug felt her heart race for a small moment; Chat might actually know the Adrien that she has feelings for. Biting her lower lip and looking down nervously, she responded.

"Yes...he does. Why do you need to know?" She asked, starting to feel more suspicious than shocked and anxious.

The black cat's eyes widened in surprise, she caught him off guard. Luckily, Ladybug's miraculous beeped a second time as a final warning that her transformation was going to wear off. With a flick of her yoyo she waved goodbye and left the mansion, not seeing the relief and overjoyed expression forever planted on Chat's face. He cheered in realisation that Ladybug did in fact like him back, but then he felt shut down as he realised it was the other him that she had feelings for, and not Chat Noir.

If only she knew.

Then, he heard a grunt from behind; he turned to see Nathalie crying in the doorway in fear. Chat walked up to her and rested his hand on her shoulder in assurance that everything was alright. Nathalie turned slightly to see the blonde black cat standing next to her; she blinked in sudden shock as she examined the teen.

"Adrien!?"

Chat gasped, he didn't know how to react, he stuttered a little before running away in a panic. The only thought in his mind was how did Nathalie know it was Adrien? No one else could tell the difference but somehow Nathalie could, he began to think about all the possibilities, he did have to admit that he was around Nathalie more than he was around his father Gabriel.

But yet, since his mother's disappearance, Gabriel had hired Nathalie as a personal assistant. He couldn't make the connection, something wasn't right and he couldn't figure out how. He wanted to check on his father to see that he was alright, but only assumed he went somewhere safe to hide from that woman and was now safe and sound.

It remained on his mind as soon as he reached the school, running towards the front door when he bumped into Marinette. The navy haired teen fell to her knees from the bump, resting a hand on her head as she looked up, her pupils immediately vanishing as she looked up at the blonde teen, a shade of red crept across her cheeks as he helped her up.

"Are you okay? Sorry about that." He apologised, rubbing his neck after lifting her back up.

Marinette posed a shy grin in assurance that she was okay. "I'm fine Adrien, thanks." She said with an awkward wave.

Adrien smiled in reply, glad that his friend was alright from the fall. He gestured her to their classroom as they walked together, while Marinette kept her head down low. The blonde teen smirked slightly in adoration that she had feelings for him.

When he started to think about it more, he realised that two girls actually had feelings for him. It made him feel on top of the moon, he was wondering if Ladybug was Marinette but their personalities didn't match well. Adrien knew Ladybug better than anyone else, and knew that she was brave, smart and confident. Marinette was a little the opposite, she was still smart, but she was more shy and clumsy from time to time. He actually found it a little cute when she was like that around him.

They arrived to their classroom, everyone stared at them, especially the pair's best friends Alya and Nino. The pair sat in their usual seats and then their best friends stuck to them like glue asking many questions about their whereabouts, why they were late and why had they arrived at exactly the same time.

"I woke up late." They both said, luckily not in synchronisation of one another.

For the remainder of the lesson, Adrien tried to draw lines as to how Nathalie knew just by looking at Cat Noir that he was Adrien. Meanwhile Marinette wondered why Cat Noir wanted to know so badly exactly who she liked, it made her feel suspicious that Chat was going to go after Adrien, she bit her lip in anxiety as she looked down at her crush, who was concentrating on his work.

Alya and Nino had asked many other questions to them, but they both decided not to answer any more questions until later just to be on the safe side and not get called on by the teacher.

However, by that time Nino pushed it aside. Alya on the other hand, was slightly suspicious. She wasn't surprised at all that Marinette was late, but Marinette and Adrien arriving at the same time was enough for curiosity and suspicion to boil inside her.

"You two arrived at the same time, is there something you're not telling me?" She asked, pointing a finger at her accusingly with a demanding expression.

Marinette could think of one thing that Alya didn't know about, she smiled sheepishly.

"C'mon, tell me." Alya demanded, poking her best friend as she glared at her.

This caught Marinette off guard, she jumped and gave a disturbed and shocked expression to Alya, who was now crossing her arms in impatience, giving her an annoyed look.

Marinette shook her head, focusing on the subject at hand. "Alya, there's no need to worry. We just both arrived at the same time that's all." She ended, scratching her head nervously. "But yet...I wonder why he was so late..." She trailed off, thinking about the events from that morning.

She remembered Chat telling her that he was already on his way to school, which meant that Adrien should've been in class, why did he only show up at the same time than she did? Perhaps he got lost or decided to walk most of the way? She thought.

"I do too, but I bet it's nothing bad. Glad to hear that it was only a coincidence." Alya said with a smile of assurance.

Marinette nodded gleefully, still thinking about earlier with Chat telling her that Adrien should've been at school earlier. Maybe he had something else to do? She couldn't take it off her mind.

Meanwhile, Adrien was scared to go home now, since Nathalie said his name while he was under the mask as Chat Noir. It made him cringe and shudder at the thought, yet he wondered deeply how could she have known? He understood the amount of time they spent around each other but yet it didn't make sense for someone like her to figure it out.

However it was puzzling that Nathalie had arrived shortly after his mother went missing. Adrien wanted to have a little talk with his father about that, it started to seem all too coincidental and suspicious for him. He hoped that he would have a spare few minutes to at least talk to his son; Gabriel seemed to always be upstairs in his private office. Adrien understood why since he was a fashion icon because of his designs, but he couldn't understand why he couldn't bond more with his son.

"You okay dude? Looks like you're zoned out." Nino stated, looking at his almost pale best friend.

Adrien was snapped back into reality as soon as he heard Nino's voice; he turned to Nino to see him with a raised eyebrow of confusion.

"Oh, don't worry. It's just complicated family stuff."

Nino immediately nodded, understanding that Adrien had family issues with his father. Gabriel was too strict and controlling for a father, he felt like Gabriel didn't like everyone to be free and live their own life, he wanted everything precise. He wanted to give the orders, make the schedules for Adrien, he was the kind of father that wanted to know exactly what he was doing at every single moment, like a protective father would do, yet this father was over extreme on the protective mark. Nino was thankful that he allowed his son to go to a public school instead of being home schooled.

Near the end of lunch, Adrien went to the bathroom alone. He needed to talk this out somewhere with someone only he knew about. So as soon as he closed the door behind him in the empty bathroom, Plagg flew out of his grey open jacket and smirked at the teen.

"So, it seems you're at the borderline of screaming hooray and screaming no?" Plagg joked, exaggerating 'hooray' and 'no'.

Adrien sighed. "I just need some time alone to figure this out. The only solution I am seeing here is to reveal my true identity to her. Then everything would be fine."

Plagg rolled his glowing green eyes in a moan, Adrien wasn't thinking about the negative side of things. Sometimes he thought Adrien was too optimistic.

"Did you even think of her reaction? You do realise she doesn't like you in that way as Chat Noir. I've told you this before!" He exclaimed.

The blonde ruffled his hands through his hair in frustration. "I can't see another way out of this!" He cried. "The only way for things to work out between us is for me to reveal to her who I truly am."

Without even letting his kwami respond, he shoved Plagg back inside his jacket and left just as the bell rang for the next class to proceed.

Marinette was having similar thoughts to Adrien too, if she could reveal to Adrien who she really was then things would turn out alright. But then she remembered those doubts she had of that turning out well. She sighed at the thought, if only there was a better way to solve this love struck problem. Marinette was glad that Adrien liked her, but it was the wrong her he had feelings for, which made her feel heavy inside and having absolute no clue what to do about it.

Neither of the pair could stay like this forever, both of them couldn't work out any way outside of revealing who they really were. It was frustrating, and they wished that if that were to happen that everything would turn out alright in the end, but Adrien's kwami and Marinette gave certain doubts that the other wouldn't like who they really were underneath the mask.

Yet both of them had a strict rule to follow, it was the solid cemented rule that they were given when they were chosen. It was to not tell anyone else that they were a crime fighting superhero. It was a hard life for the two of them, and they both felt like there was a part that they were missing but they just couldn't pinpoint it.

Later that day, Adrien had nothing else on but to go straight home, his heart began to race as his mind shifted to that morning before he left for school. He was in awe and disbelief that Nathalie knew who he really was. He was beginning to doubt that he heard Nathalie say that, perhaps he just heard wrong or wasn't really paying attention.

When he arrived home, no one was there greeting him. He looked around suspiciously before darting to his room, glad that Nathalie wasn't around, just in case if he heard right that morning.

"I really hope Nathalie doesn't know." Adrien hoped, as Plagg flew out, darting for the cheese on Adrien's desk.

Plagg sat on the desk with his cheese that had been sitting there since last night, and had now stank the room out; Adrien opened a window to get some fresh air from the disgusting stench from the cheese. He plummeted onto his bed in deep frustration. He felt like his life was total chaos, when it was in fact just his love life and double life.

It was complicated, that's all he could say about it. He wanted to fix it more than ever; he actually wanted another akuma attack to happen right then and there so he could talk to Ladybug again. He didn't dare call her again after the two times he did in the past week. He respected her personal life, yet he wished he knew more about it. Ladybug seemed to know him in her personal life.

Ladybug was indeed someone that Adrien knew outside her secret identity; however he didn't know who she could be. But more importantly, he wanted to know more than ever how did Nathalie know about his secret identity.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Plagg quickly hid as Adrien walked towards the door.

He opened to see Nathalie standing there.

 **Ha-ha cliff-hanger, all of you can shoot me now XD oh wait, please don't! Otherwise this story will never be completed! D: Lol. Sorry, but that seemed like such a great spot to end it so I'm ending it there. In this chapter I'm using another one of my speculations behind Nathalie, hoped some of you have worked out what my speculation is, but don't reveal it just in case. ;)**

 **So I'll see you guys around episode 17 of MB. I'll see you then for Chapter 9! ^^**


	9. Suspicious Questions

**I have just been so busy this past week, I've been in and out of the house, getting ready for my graphic design course, organising money problems, working on two comics...organising the next ten uploads to DeviantART, working on an old fictional 200 page story I wrote last year plus this FanFic and the other FanFic. So don't say I'm not busy, because I REALLY am...*faints***

 **Anyways, I have watched the new episode already. And man did that raise more questions and speculations? I'm excited for next week's episode already! ^^ And I think with my Nathalie speculation and that brooch from the new episode (spoilers ;D), I'll have to change a couple of things.**

 **So, hope you're willing to be satisfied with this Chapter but then craving for more. Enjoy Chapter 9 of Revelations! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 9 – Suspicious Questions**

"Nathalie?" Adrien swallowed hard, feeling his heart beat in anxiety as Nathalie entered his room.

Not responding, she walked around. Looking around and analysing everything Adrien had in his room, from his posters to the things on his desk, to the desktop screen which was open to the Lady blog, Nathalie looked at Adrien with silence and no expression. The blonde teen was unsure of what she was going to do, or if she even remembered saying what she said earlier to Cat Noir. He began to sweat anxiously as she approached him.

"Adrien...?" She asked in a more lightened tone as her eyes widened.

Adrien felt his cheeks heat up and his heart beating out of his chest, he really hoped Nathalie didn't know about his secret identity. He smiled and grinned sheepishly as he rubbed his neck nervously.

"Yes Nathalie?"

Nathalie wrapped her arms around the blonde teen, Adrien immediately froze as his eyes widened. He felt the warm embrace of Nathalie's arms; it felt all so familiar to him. He wrapped his arms around her, embracing the gentle touch with a warming smile. His heart relaxing and his sweat vanishing, he warmed up to Nathalie.

"I've missed you so much!" She cried.

Shocked and confused by this, Adrien froze. "What?"

After releasing herself from the hug, Nathalie wiped her tears with a cloth, removing her glasses which then revealed her emerald green eyes. Her glasses had been making her eyes seem like a deep blue. Adrien looked up in confusion, not fully understanding why Nathalie was acting like this. He felt conflicted and confused inside.

"I love you so much my baby." She said in a soft tone, placing her glasses back on.

Adrien's jaw dropped and his mind was wiped clean with awe and unbelievable shock. His first reaction for a split second was disgust, but seeing the heartfelt love in her eyes, he knew it all too well. Adrien's mother had been with him this entire time and neither of them realised it. Tears swelled in his eyes as a smile crept across his lips.

"Mother...?"

Sniffling and smiling in rejoice, he embraced his mother tightly and warmly, overcome with joy that his mother had been around him this entire time. He was so happy in that moment that he felt like nothing could ruin it.

But then, a loud and very forced knock was heard from the door. "Adrien!?" An adult male voice called out.

The pair gasped, knowing all too well that it was Gabriel behind that door. Nathalie couldn't help but open the door for him. Gabriel stood there, hands clenched in deep anger as he glared at the two of them without saying a word.

"Nathalie, go back to your office." He instructed in a calm voice.

Then, Nathalie returned to her monotone voice and expression. "Yes sir."

Confusing as the scene was, Adrien couldn't say anything. He deeply wanted to, but the scowl look on Gabriel's face frightened him enough to keep his lips pressed together firmly, however he glared at him, angered that he had been treating his own wife this way for so long.

"We are never to speak of this again, you understand?" Gabriel requested, deep anger curled onto the last words in that sentence.

Adrien looked down, because of all this new knowledge he knew about his mother being Nathalie all this time he had to bring it up. This may be his only chance to talk to his father face to face. But seeing the anger in his scowl as he leaned over a little, narrowing his eyes at him, Adrien sighed and agreed.

"Yes, father." He replied, in a respectful saddened tone.

Sitting down on his bed, Adrien watched his father leave the room in an orderly neat manner, gently closing the door behind him. Plagg wisped out from his hiding place, confused and annoyed by Gabriel's actions.

"Why do you let him do that to you? As Chat you could stand your ground against him!" Plagg exclaimed.

Sighing, Adrien fell face first into his pillow. He felt extremely heavy inside, all of this new information he had been given over the past week were weighing him down all in one hit, and he hated it. He felt confused, happy and upset. There were so many things he wanted to do to fix everything all at once but now it didn't seem possible.

"Sorry Plagg, but you should know this happens a lot." He explained, lifting his head a little to look at his kwami.

Plagg felt worried for him, suddenly a theory sparked in his head. Ignoring Adrien for a short moment, he flew towards his desk and opened one of the drawers. Not looking at his kwami, Adrien assumed he was looking for cheese. Then he heard the sound of a card of some sort blowing through the air, landing on his leg. He sat up and saw that it was a photo, his eyes widened as he realised it was a photo of him and his mother from a few years ago.

"A few years ago your mother left for some unknown reason, what I'm guessing is that your father hired her as his assistant, possibly because of some argument or something." He theorised, with his arm under his chin in thought.

The photo had cut off half of his mother's face and leaving Adrien as the central portrait of the photograph, but seeing the details on her and comparing them to Nathalie, there was no doubt that from the photo they shared similar physical attributes. The similar jaw line, the same coloured lips, the adoring smile when he saw Nathalie smile at him moments ago. He felt warm inside as he caressed the photo, adoring that his mother was always there for him.

But what concerned and angered him the most out of all this, was that Gabriel had been hiding it from him this entire time. He had his suspicions about it, and they were confirmed when Gabriel didn't say a single word on the subject, he was definitely hiding something from him. Adrien's curiosity boiled, he had to know why he was trying to hide away his own mother from him. Gabriel always hid away in his office at the top of the mansion and rarely came out to see him, Adrien always ate his meals alone, only seeing Nathalie from time to time with his schedule and news that his father wouldn't be with him anytime soon.

"Why does he always stay up there? I know it's his office, but he should understand the care and love of a family." He explained, getting up from his bed and leaning the photo against his middle monitor. "Why would he hide something like this from me?" He asked sincerely, looking at Plagg with a neglected expression.

Narrowing his eyes as he thought back to when Gabriel instructed Nathalie to leave, he remembered seeing Nathalie turning from emotional to emotionless within the blink of an eye, furrowing his eyebrow he glared towards the door with his father in mind.

"He's hiding something, and he's going to tell me. He can't keep secrets like this away from me."

Meanwhile a few hours later, Marinette was found staring blankly at a picture of Adrien she had re-stuck to the wall, tapping her pen gently against the tablet, she smiled. She felt happy inside, but at the same time she felt conflicted. Tikki was by her side, trying to keep her focused but saw that Marinette was having a hard time trying to stay the same emotion.

The kwami tapped the dazed and confused girl on the shoulder, causing Marinette to shake her head as she regained the sight of reality. She turned to her kwami in question.

"What?" She asked.

Tikki sighed as she flew in front of Marinette's face. "Aren't you going to focus on your work?"

Sighing, Marinette placed her pencil down and relaxed her head in the palms of her hands as she stared at the picture of Adrien once again, this time giving a saddened expression.

"I don't know if I can work like this, he's in love with Ladybug and not me."

Rolling her eyes, seeing that Marinette found her civilian life and super hero life to be too different and not the same she flew in front of her with a look of assurance. "But you are Ladybug, Marinette or Ladybug you are the same person with or without the costume."

Thinking deeply about Tikki's advice in assurance, she pressed her lips together and looked down. She had heard Tikki give her this same advice many times before and had accepted it, but always thought that her personal life and life as a superhero were two different lives that she lived, always different and never the same she assumed. When she was Ladybug, she was confident and strong. As Marinette she was clumsy and shy. She rarely showed those attributes in both forms, she was all too sure of herself that Ladybug and Marinette were two different people.

"I know but, Adrien knows me. I don't think he'd fall for someone like me."

Feeling frustrated, Tikki snapped her out of it. "Look, you and Ladybug are the same person! Adrien loves you Marinette!"

Marinette's heart skipped a beat at the sound of Tikki saying Adrien loves her, it made her melt and her lips curved into a dreamy smile, she leaned back in her chair a little, dazed slightly by Tikki's words.

"I'm so glad he loves me..." She said in a dreamy voice, before snapping back to reality. "But how do I get Adrien to see that I am Ladybug without revealing my identity?"

A smile of assurance crept across Tikki's face. "Don't worry, you'll find a way." She assured her as she pat Marinette's shoulder.

Slouching in her chair, Marinette groaned in frustration. She wanted a clear answer for her situation but couldn't think of anything, she didn't want to reveal herself in the case that Adrien would feel disappointed to find that all along Ladybug has been Marinette with a mask. She wished she had another person to talk to, but she only had Tikki whom she could say anything to. She just wanted someone else's perspective on things.

That was when she decided to call Alya. Dialling Alya's number, her best friend answered the phone almost instantly, greeting her with confidence.

"Hey Marinette, what's up?"

Breathing in and out slowly, Marinette held her tongue before she responded. "Can you come over? I need someone to talk to."

With a positive response, she hung up the phone, hoping that talking to Alya might clear her head a little. Yet, Marinette worried how she was going to talk this out with her best friend when Alya didn't know about Marinette being Ladybug. Tikki assured her that she would think of the right things to say, but with such little time in between now and the time Alya arrived, she worried she wouldn't be able to think of anything.

Less than ten minutes later, Alya arrived. She sat on Marinette's bed and saw one picture of Adrien stuck on the wall near her computer; furrowing her eyebrow she looked at Marinette, concerned as to why she still had a picture of Adrien on her wall.

"Why do you still have a picture of him on your wall?" She asked, looking at Marinette as she pointed at the picture.

Marinette turned, seeing the photo and smiling slightly. "I still love him." She replied, smiling.

Gasping in shock and slight disgust, she firmly pressed her hands against her waist. "You mean even though he doesn't like you back you still love him?"

Sighing romantically as she stared at the picture, Marinette nodded in response before she turned her head with her expression quickly changing to seriousness. "Hey, I asked you to come over so I could talk to you."

Confused by the statement, Alya shrugged. "I'm here talking to you, is there a reason why you dragged me here?" She asked in a slight tease.

Marinette stood up from her seat, thinking of the right words to say to Alya so that her secret identity wouldn't be revealed. Pacing around her room, constantly peeking over at the picture of Adrien as well as Tikki who was hidden in her purse on her desk, Marinette thought deeply while Alya looked at her in confusion and concern.

"What if...a person was to like certain aspects of another person but never knew who they really were underneath? If that person were to reveal these other aspects, would it be a bad thing?" She asked, looking up at Alya with his finger placed against her chin thoughtfully.

As confusing as the question was, Alya responded the best way she could. "Well I'd say it depends on the other person. They could be surprised and happy about it or be disgusted by them. Either way they'd still like the person the same way." She explained carefully, smiling. "Why are you asking me this?" Alya questioned, raising an eyebrow of suspicion.

A tint of red spread across Marinette's cheeks, she had to think fast but at the same time she had to be careful of what to say. Biting her lip and looking away nervously, Marinette shot a sheepish grin at a suspicious Alya.

"Oh...just asking because I'm doing a little research on it..." she replied nervously, scratching the back of her neck with a nervous grin.

Eyeing her best friend suspiciously as she processed Marinette's explanation, she agreed with a smile. "Alright then, anything else you want to talk about?"

To make it seem less suspicious that she only wanted Alya to come for that, she let Alya stay for another couple of hours before she left at dinner time. After dinner, Marinette stayed in her room and focused hard on her work, ignoring anything else that was on her mind until all her homework for the day was completed.

When the moon rose at 11pm, Marinette finished her homework. Stretching her arms out wide and yawning in relief, she got up from her seat and decided to sit outside on the balcony for a while. She felt the cool fresh air brush against her skin, making her close her eyes as she rested on the chair and relaxed herself.

Tikki had already gone to sleep, worn out from the morning's akuma attack; she slept peacefully on Marinette's pillow. Meanwhile Marinette enjoyed the cool relaxing breeze, she was glad to have gotten all her homework out of the way for the weekend, this way if an akuma attack were to occur she would be there in a flash, not having to worry about falling behind in her schoolwork.

Then suddenly, a gush of cool wind swept across her face, making her hair tangle as she heard someone land on her balcony. Her eyes still closed, she sighed, knowing exactly who it was.

"You know, I could call you out on trespassing Chat." Marinette warned, sneaking a smirk in as she opened her eyes to see the black cat in front of her.

"I just need someone to talk to." He explained, the seriousness in his eyes making Marinette raise concern.

Widening her eyes, Marinette sat up as she saw Chat sit on the railing beside her. His expression held no smirk or smile whatsoever; it worried her that he was seeing her this late at night, and for what reason? She wondered. Curling herself up into a ball with her arms wrapped around her legs, she looked at Chat with concern.

"Why?"

Chat jumped off the ledge and sat next to Marinette, making her shift a little way's away from him against the arch of the chair. He looked up at her, seeing the heavenly blue eyes that resembled Ladybug's so much. It was uncanny that these two girls shared the same beautiful eyes.

Looking down as he breathed heavily in thought, Chat responded. "Today...I found out some news and I just need to talk to someone that I know would care."

Narrowing her eyebrows, Chat's words only made her mind raise more questions in confusion to what he was trying to say. How would he be able to talk about some news with her? He could've worked it out on his own, or unless it needed Ladybug's help he should've contacted her in the first place.

"I don't understand, why would you want to talk to me about some news you found out? What is the news?" She asked, releasing herself from her curved ball position.

Leaving a lesser gap between the two, Chat looked down nervously, worried about whether telling Marinette about his personal life would be the best option. However, seeing that he was knee deep already he had no choice. He took in a deep breath before giving Marinette more comfortable space as he began to explain.

"My mother...she's been gone for a few years. And only today that I found out she's been with me this entire time. My father..." He stopped, worried if he said Gabriel's name his identity would be revealed. "He had kept it a secret from me this entire time."

Turning her head at a slight angle, Marinette raised an eyebrow, confused as to why Chat would come to her to talk about his personal life when surely there must have been someone in his personal life that he could talk to. She didn't understand why of all people, Chat would choose to come to her.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Grabbing her hand suddenly, Chat looked into Marinette's eyes, causing a pink blush to creep across her cheeks.

"Because I need someone who knows me besides Ladybug."

 **Not sure if that was a cliff-hanger there, but I guess every end to these chapters is a cliff-hanger since you guys keep screaming for more XD So the plot is thickening, and I think the next chapter or two could bring in more depth to the overall plot of this story, perhaps a revelation? *giggles***

 **Looks like you'll have to wait a few days for Chapter 10 then. So I'll see you soon! ^^**


	10. Confusion and Hurt

**Not long now until I start my graphic design course, I'll still try to update this on a regular basis but you must understand that my course is going to be my top priority from the 8** **th** **of February till the end of 2017 ;) Don't worry I won't be giving up on this, I'm just letting you know in case you get less frequent updates from me. :)**

 **So...I've been really enjoying this story myself, been thinking of how the rest is going to plan out and oh man it's just exciting thinking about it! :D I can't wait for you guys to find out about it! ^^ Also, I was thinking with this story I explore all four ships, now obviously I've been like the show and haven't really explored the Ladybug x Adrien ship but I might be soon, you never know *giggle* ;D**

 **Anyways, 10 Chapters already? This story is definitely making progress, I am really glad to see so many of you joining me on this exciting ride, the fun doesn't stop now! XD**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 10 – Confusion and Hurt**

Marinette shook her head in disbelief, thinking that this was another one of Chat's attempts to flirt with her like he most likely did with every girl he saw. She smirked at him in a tease, looking down at his hand holding onto hers as she let go, disturbing the black cat a little.

"I know you?" Marinette scoffed. "All I know is that you're a superhero, you're flirtatious and you're Ladybug's partner." She explained, not revealing anything else that she knew.

Chat did have a point with Marinette knowing about Chat aside from Ladybug, but he didn't know that she and Ladybug were one and the same. So deep down Marinette knew Chat was right about one thing but she kept it buried. Marinette knew the boy to be more than just what she told him just then. Cat Noir was confident, sometimes dim-witted, brave, friendly, putting other's needs before his own, respectful, and overall a team mate in their battles against Hawkmoth's akuma attacks.

Looking down, he could see that Marinette was not taking this seriously, but he knew ever since he discovered Marinette's feelings towards Adrien that she did know him a lot on one side, and had some insight to his super hero life too, but did not know about Adrien and Chat Noir being one and the same.

"I'm serious, I have a feeling you know me in my personal life too."

Immediately regretting saying that to Marinette as he mentally banged his head against a wall, Marinette parted her lips slightly as an eyebrow was raised.

"What does that have to do with anything? You're not going to reveal to me who you really are, are you?" She asked, beginning to worry in fear that she may discover Chat's secret identity tonight.

He looked up at the worried Marinette, he knew he shouldn't have said that; it gave her the impression that he was going to talk more about his personal life with her and reveal his secret identity to her so she would understand better. He didn't want to do that to her, although he knew well that she liked his secret identity, it was Ladybug whom he really wanted to reveal himself to.

Shaking his head, he looked down, rubbing his hand against the rough texture of the chair. "No, I just needed someone to talk to. I didn't want to bother Ladybug..."

Smirking, Marinette teased in response. "So you came here to bother me?"

Lowering his eyebrows at her in response, he sat up straight and took in a deep breath. "Look, I know for a fact that you have a well functioning family. I envy you; I wish I had that luxury of two parents greeting me every morning." He sighed, closing his eyes slowly as he thought about after all this time his mother was with him but both of his parents barely spoke a word to him.

Sympathy flowed right through her, which was all she could feel for the black cat. She was truly sorry about his personal life being so saddening to bear; she only wished she could help somehow. But she didn't want to spend too much time with him since little did he know that she spent the most time with him than anyone else outside his personal life.

Scooting a little closer to the cat, she looked down as she stuttered a little. "Look, maybe I could help you somehow. I could give you advice about how your parents are supposed to be there for you and communicate and care." She suggested.

Brightening his mood with widened eyes, Chat nodded with a smile and accepted the suggestion. "Tell me everything you know."

The pair moved to her room, before Chat came in Marinette made sure that Tikki was hidden first, and then she allowed Chat to climb down and sit on her bed. Before Chat could listen to Marinette's advice he looked at the wall, seeing one photo of himself in his normal form on her wall. It made him smile a little before he snapped out of it with Marinette's voice suddenly becoming louder.

"Are you listening?" She questioned suspiciously, pouting as she bent her back to lean in to his face.

Chat chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck and gesturing towards her that she could continue to speak. Marinette stood straight, giving a subtle smile as she continued to talk. The black cat read every word from her pink glossy lips as she paced across the room thinking hard of what she could say.

"The most important thing is communication, be honest with them and tell them how you feel. I would suggest all of you getting together somewhere outside the comfort of your own home and just being with each other, away from the stress of home and work." She advised, using gestures to give more emphasis on her advice.

As Marinette continued to give advice about how a family works from her own experience, Chat was caught off guard, staring into Marinette's magnificent blue eyes. He never realised how blue and sparkly they looked before until now. They had that same sparkle as Ladybug's; these two girls were certainly special.

"Chat? Why are you looking at me like that?" Marinette asked in slight disgust and worry.

Caught off guard for a moment, Chat shook his head as he returned back to reality. He could see Marinette towering over her with her expression in suspicion as her hands lay firmly against her waist.

"Nothing, I just...after all those times I saved you I never really noticed, you have really pretty eyes."

Blushing slightly in thought that he might figure out who she really was, she pressed a hand against one of her cheeks as she bit her lower lip. "Oh...well thanks." She said shyly, before realising this was Chat talking to her and not Adrien. "Okay, we're here to talk about family stuff remember?" She reminded, pressing her lips together into a smirk as she raised an eyebrow.

"Right." Chat replied nervously, looking away for a brief moment before Marinette continued.

Marinette talked to Chat for another good fifteen minutes before she approached her first tiring yawn, it made her stretch in response as she felt her body needing a good amount of sleep. Standing up, Chat started to move towards the door that led up to the balcony.

"Sorry, but I think you'll be fine with all the advice I've given you so far." She assured him with half open eyes, indicating that she was getting sleepy.

Smiling as he got back down, he turned to her. "Thanks Marinette, I hope your advice works." He said, holding her shoulders in a thankful gesture.

Marinette smiled, she couldn't help that Chat sometimes had that adorable look on his face when they were out there battling akumas together. She shook it off her mind as soon as Chat left her room, she didn't want to think of Chat in that way, even if she knew that Adrien's heart belonged to her alter ego. She plummeted onto her bed in thought, too tired as she saw midnight approaching from her clock. So she went to sleep without getting changed as Tikki came out of hiding and snuggled up against Marinette's head on her pillow.

The next day, Adrien woke up with confidence, he was sure that Marinette's advice would work on both his father and mother, he knew it was going to take great lengths to get their family together and happy again, but he was willing to try. He knew that no one else was going to try so he had to fix the broken bonds in his family.

Walking out of his room, fully dressed, he looked around for Nathalie and not seeing her in sight. He frowned as he made his way to the dining room for breakfast. Then, as he entered the room, his eyes widened in surprise that he saw his breakfast there and Nathalie standing there in casual clothing, smiling at him with her hands clasped neatly in front of her stomach.

"Good morning Adrien." She greeted as he sat down, planting a kiss on his head.

He was nothing but confused in that moment, since the day before and with the events of his father keeping something hidden from him about his mother, he didn't like it one bit and was going to get to the bottom of everything. He wondered why after Nathalie left in her monotone voice yesterday she was now back to when she revealed she was his mother, it made his brain buzz in confusion.

Smiling slightly, he greeted her back as he began to eat. Then he realised that he hadn't been given his schedule for the day, it concerned him slightly since he would receive a schedule every day of the week, including the weekends. He wondered why Nathalie hadn't given him his schedule for the day yet.

"Hey, where's my schedule?"

Widening her eyes at the sound of the word, she gasped in disbelief. "A schedule? You run from a schedule?" She asked, seeming to not realise that Adrien was like this every day.

This was only getting more suspicious, and raising more questions than answers that made Adrien's mind run wild with thoughts trying to understand why all of this was happening. His mind fizzed with wonder of why Nathalie didn't know about the schedule she gave him every day, almost like she had amnesia or had been brainwashed.

"You give me a schedule every day." He implied, raising an eyebrow.

Nathalie had no idea that her own son's life was based around a schedule handed to him every day. At first she assumed that he made the schedule himself, but no seeing that it was made for him without him knowing what the day was going to bring him, made her question why he was being raised like this. She narrowed her eyebrows in thought, hating to see and know that Adrien was living like this.

"No, I can't let you live like this." She stated with determination.

Adrien could see that she was truly his mother; he knew his father wouldn't act like this and say things like this unless they were on a negative note. He lowered his head, continuing to eat his breakfast as Nathalie sat beside him.

After placing his cutlery down, Adrien felt the touch of a warm hand. He looked up to see Nathalie looking at him with an assuring smile.

"Don't worry; you're not going to be living like this anymore." She assured him, widening her smile as she clasped his hand.

Looking up at his mother, he smiled, his eyes watering slightly as he could see in her hidden green eyes that she truly cared about him. He knew now that it was only his father that he had to mend the bond with, he should've known when the advice was first given to him.

"Yes he is Nathalie."

The pair turned, catching Gabriel standing at the door with his hands hidden behind his back as he normally would. As he approached them, Nathalie's shocked expression remained the same, while Adrien narrowed his eyebrows in anger, annoyed and confused as to why he was hiding things from his own son.

"Father, why are you hiding this from me?" He asked, almost snapping at his father.

Gritting his teeth, Gabriel stared down his son, disgusted and annoyed by his disrespectful attitude towards him. "Adrien, you will not speak like that to me again. This is not a discussion that is open to you." He informed, making each word pierce through Adrien's feelings.

Feeling like he didn't want to lose his mother again, he stood up and wrapped his arms around Nathalie's arms tightly, in protection that he didn't want to lose her. This made Gabriel reach the breaking point, his tolerance level had exploded; he wanted no more of this.

"I am not losing my mother because you won't tell me why she acts the way she does around you!" He cried, burrowing his head into his mother's arm.

Nathalie did nothing in this situation; she warmed up to Adrien's affection and love towards her, but froze and said nothing as Gabriel glared at her and Adrien in deep anger and betrayal.

With his eyes twitching and his hands clenched so tight that his nails pierced the skin of his palm, he stormed up to Adrien, who didn't grow frightened in the least of his father's behaviour.

"She is not your mother, and I have had more than enough of this! You are banned from seeing Nathalie again, she is now fired!" He snapped, pointing a sharp finger at the woman, who only had the expression of shock and betrayal in her eyes as they started to water.

Feeling his heart race with burning anger, Adrien stepped forward. "No, father. No more secrets! Tell me what's going on right now!" he demanded, putting his foot down.

Gabriel closed his eyes and rubbed his temples forcefully as he grew more frustrated and annoyed with his son. "Go to your room, I never want to hear this again." He said, in a calmer more relaxed tone, before he looked at Nathalie with a nod.

With those words, Adrien growled at his father as he stormed out of the room, slamming his bedroom door shut after he entered. He fell into his bed in deep tears.

Acting on Gabriel's wishes, Nathalie nodded as her monotone expression returned. "I will clear my stuff out immediately sir; it was an honour being your assistant."

Turning his back towards the woman, Gabriel lowered his head with his eyebrows narrowed. "Get out of my sight."

A few hours later, Adrien was still angered and upset about what his father told him and what he did to Nathalie. He truly had the worst father in the world, and only wished he could rid of his anger. Plagg did everything he could to make him feel better, but not having much experience himself with the past Cat Noir's he had he wasn't much of help as he wanted to be.

"Sorry Plagg, but if only you could help my father understand that family is more important than strict rules and work, then everything would be fine." He said, caressing his mother's photo with tears still rolling down his cheeks.

Adrien laid back down, feeling so lost, hurt and confused. He wished his life could be simpler, that he could put Marinette's advice to good use, but didn't know how. He was extremely confused as to why his mother acted like his mother and then when Gabriel was around she acted like his assistant. It was almost like she was brainwashed.

That word echoed in his head, it had to be the reason why Nathalie behaved in such a monotone way around everyone all the time, and yet now she was acting like a normal person, suddenly discovering after all this time that she was with her son. Gabriel must have somehow brainwashed Nathalie into acting the way she did, he had to figure out why, and his curiosity wouldn't sleep until he knew the whole truth behind it all.

"I hate these secrets, I've only kept one secret from him and that's only to protect him!" He cried, referring to his double life as Cat Noir.

Plagg sighed as he rested himself on Adrien's shoulder. "I don't know why your father acts this way, but now I think you should find your mother before she's lost forever."

Sighing at the thought of that actually working, Adrien shook his head in doubt. "I don't think that'll work...he's probably around her right now keeping his eyes on her on something. I just wish there was something I could do to fix anything, and even as Chat Noir I can't do anything!" He exclaimed, falling back into his bed, making Plagg float upwards.

Then suddenly, Plagg felt a vibrating motion ring through his body. The familiar buzz of someone trying to contact him. "Um, Adrien?" He asked in between the vibrations, which sounded and felt much like a phone ringing. "I think someone's trying to...c-contact you." He forced out, wanting the buzzing to stop.

Sitting up, Adrien raised an eyebrow in confusion. He wondered why Plagg was buzzing all of a sudden, but then taking what Plagg just told him into account; it meant that Ladybug was contacting him. Plagg couldn't hold it in much longer, he answered and Adrien greeted in worry.

"Ladybug? What's wrong?"

"I need you here, quick. The location is attached to your baton; meet up with me as soon as you can!" She exclaimed with a hurry, before an explosion was heard in the background, making Adrien cringe and Ladybug move.

Wondering what was going on, he assured Ladybug that he would be there as soon as possible, and as soon as Ladybug hung up, Adrien transformed into Cat Noir and left the building towards Ladybug's location.

In front of the Eiffel Tower, Ladybug was dodging the attacks of yet another akumatised victim, but she was struggling on her own, she hoped that Chat would turn up, but as soon as she thought of that, a black figure stood in front of him, protecting her from the attacks. Chat was in front waving his baton in a circular motion to protect the two of them from harm.

Then, the akumatised victim stopped attacking, Chat waved his baton and positioned himself ready for battle, he examined the victim to figure out who they were. Then, with widened eyes as his jaw dropped, he realised who this akumatised victim was.

"Mother!?"

 **Oh God...why do I keep on doing that!? XD Well I did tell you guys things would be getting intense now, remember? ;) Also sorry for the lack of fluff in this chapter, but this was more to do with Adrien's family. I know I've been writing more about Adrien in this story, it's because his life is far more complex and open to more theories and speculations than Marinette's is.**

 **But don't worry, more fluff is to come soon I assure you. I'm just covering all the bases. ;) See you guys soon! ^^**


	11. Close Call

**Oh boy I think I need to read back on this FanFic because I have been reading several other Ladybug Fanfics at the same time... and it's confusing me. XD I'm pretty sure most of you guys aren't just following my FanFic, there's just so many good ones out there am I right? :D**

 **Anyways, my graphic design course started and I've already got homework, but thankfully it's homework than I can do easily. I'm just warning you in advance because there's sure to be less time for me to write this and more on homework. However I will update this when I have the time to do it ;)**

 **So, I think I have the special talent of leaving cliff-hangers at the end of every chapter, let's see if this streak will end in this chapter...or it might not, only I know for sure. *giggle***

 **Enjoy Chapter 11 of Revelations! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 11 – Close Call**

The sight of seeing Nathalie akumatised overwhelmed Chat; he stood there in plain shock with his jaw dropped. Ladybug raised an eyebrow, confused as to why Chat was behaving like this all of a sudden. Her curiosity was beginning to get the best of her, so she managed to fend off Nathalie long enough for her to ask what was going on in an alleyway.

"Chat, what's going on? Why didn't you do or say anything?" She asked in a caring tone, worried for her partner.

Chat breathed heavily as he looked down in the distance, seeing Nathalie in an akumatised form that almost made her unrecognisable, yet the strong bond he shared between his mother made the differences seem invisible in his eyes. "If I tell you...you might figure out who I am..." He warned, his eyes filled with worry and seriousness.

She gasped silently, realising that her curiosity had reached far beyond her limits, she couldn't ask why. But at the same time Ladybug wanted to know why so she could help him, she didn't want him emotionally affected by this villain while trying to fight them off. Then, she thought of an idea. With an assuring smile, she rested her hand on his shoulder in comfort.

"Okay, how about you tell me why but at the same time don't say any names or anything related to your personal life." She explained, smiling at Chat.

More than ever Chat just wanted to explain everything then and there, he wanted to explain who the akumatised victim was, he wanted to confess his feelings, and most of all he wanted to show her who he really was so then everything would turn out alright. But he had to respect Ladybug's wishes; he began to think of a better more hidden way to explain why he was acting like this.

Taking in a deep breath, Chat looked up into Ladybug's heavenly blue eyes and explained. "I just have an emotional attachment to her that I can't explain..."

Before saying anything else, Ladybug hushed him with a finger over his lips. "That's all I need to know." She said with a caring smile.

Chat smiled in return, but still wouldn't be able to face his own mother, especially now that she knew who he really was, or the fact that he could have heard wrong when Nathalie said his real name while he was Cat Noir. Either way, Chat was extremely worried and anxious; he didn't want to hurt her regardless of the fact that she was akumatised. He cared about his mother and he didn't want to lose her, if only there was a way to communicate that to ladybug without revealing anything. He thought.

"But how can we both fight this villain if I can't?" He cried in a low whisper.

Lowering her eyebrows and turning back to her partner in emotional support, she smiled slightly as she gave him assurance through her hands resting on his shoulders. "Look, I know you can fight her, I'll do what I can to fight but I can't do this without you. We're a team remember?"

A smile crept over Chat's lips, knowing that he and Ladybug were like the yin and yang of differences, two opposing sides that complete each other. Chat felt his emotional attachment to his mother wash away as feelings of determination washed over and made him ready to fight.

"Ready when you are my lady." He said with a smirk, waving his baton out.

With a nod in reply, they both ran out into the open, seeing the akumatised victim in full force, attacking using her whip which had similar features to Ladybug's yoyo, being able to extend long distances and hit from afar. Nathalie had the signature akuma mask over her green eyes, glasses completely removed with her black and red hair down freely, and her outfit was coloured purple, to match Hawkmoth's signature colour.

Nathalie growled at the pair, not getting a full view of Cat Noir just yet, she spun her whip out towards some people down the street and they were under her every command. She ordered them to fight, and they obeyed, just like Nathalie would have if Gabriel told her so. But now she was broken free of Gabriel and able to have a will of her own.

Ladybug turned, seeing the three people from behind running full force; meanwhile Cat Noir was behind Nathalie, still worried deep down of hitting her, but could see what Nathalie could do with her whip. He was thinking that could be where the akuma is, but wondering why she would have a whip in the first place, it was the only thing he could think of until she turned around to reveal a glimmering piece of jewellery on her chest.

"That brooch..." Chat whispered to himself, his mind flashed back to when he looked at the photo of him and his mother.

He remembers seeing that brooch in the picture on her; he remembered Gabriel gave it to her a while before she 'disappeared' as an anniversary gift. It was the exact same one, except this one looked jagged and sharp, deep red and purple in colour. The akuma must have been in there, he thought. But before Chat could say anything, Nathalie spoke up.

"Your father's going to get what's coming to him!" She yelled, pointing the whip towards him.

At that moment, Chat realised that his mother could indeed tell it was him, it had to have been her motherly instincts because it made no other sense to him. Chat ducked, hearing the whip snap near him, but nothing happened to him. He opened his eyes to see that she had slashed a poster of Gabriel's fashion designs; Chat was so relieved that Ladybug was too busy fighting off the influenced people to hear what Nathalie just told her. He knew that until Ladybug came back he could talk more openly with his mother.

"Mother, please stop this! I know Father is cruel but it doesn't have to be this way!" He cried, trying to hold back his tears as his bit his lip.

Growling and clenching her open fist in mention of Gabriel, Nathalie slashed her whip to him, forgetting for a moment that she was attacking her own son. Cat Noir used his baton to fling himself over to Ladybug who had managed to defeat the three people that were under their influence.

"I am Slave Driver! Those who tell me what to do will be forced to do what I say!"

A purple Hawkmoth outline appeared around Nathalie's face, Hawkmoth was speaking to her through her thoughts, and Ladybug and Cat Noir could see this happening.

"If you want to destroy those two and your husband, you take them all to the place where it all started." Hawkmoth ordered with an evil grin.

She nodded in reply, jumping up high and unleashing her whip on the two, preparing to take control of their will. The two separated, going opposite ways to avoid the whip from getting them. They both jumped on a high building nearby to get a view of what exactly was going on.

"Do you know where the akuma is?" Ladybug asked, resting a hand against her hip.

Chat narrowed his eyebrows, trying to hide his conflicted emotions. "It's the brooch on her chest." He informed, pointing to Nathalie's chest.

It was a déjà vu for Ladybug, since she had broken a similar brooch a while ago containing an akuma but it was from Sabrina, but this one could be different, she thought. She had to think of a way to get to her without being whipped and then taken under her control. She kneeled down in thought, her eyes following Nathalie around as she went in search to find the two of them. Then, she felt heavy breathing behind her, she knew it wasn't Nathalie and grew uncomfortable when she realised it was Chat very close to her.

"What?" She asked, seeming clueless to Chat's expression.

He sniffled before he could say anything else; he lightly touched her hand as she looked into his teary emerald eyes. "Please...I don't want to lose you too..." He cried softly.

Not fully understanding what he meant by losing her as well, she embraced him, assuring that they were both going to be alright in the end. Unfortunately that wasn't enough to lift Chat's mood, he still looked deeply worried, his lips curled into a worried frown, trembling in fear. She wanted to fully understand who that woman was and why did Chat take such an emotional attachment to her, she had suspicions that she may be related to him but she decided to not think too deep into it.

"I know Chat, but we've got to work through this. With the two of us together, I know we can take her down." She said confidently, smiling at Chat.

He couldn't help but smile when she smiled like that, an almost invisible blush crept against his skin as he smiled back adoringly. But then the moment was cut off when a whip was lashed between the two of them. They both turned to see Nathalie floating high up with her whip in hand, the brooch now in full sight with a deeply angered expression on her face.

She lashed out her whip again, this time more directed at Ladybug, and luckily she was able to dodge it in time while Chat jumped off the building in the opposite direction. Chat knew he couldn't fight her even if it was his last resort, she was flying up high and there was no way to grab the brooch off her without grabbing it with a hand. Then, he turned to see his mother facing him, he cringed in fear as he felt tears pooling at the bottom of his eyelids. He didn't want to hurt her, even if she was like this. She and Ladybug were the two people Chat cared for the most.

Before Chat could be taken under her control, her arm was pulled back tightly as Ladybug's yoyo wrapped itself around her arm and pulled her back. It was then that Ladybug could see the brooch in plain sight, but couldn't think of a way to get to it. However she knew one thing for sure, Nathalie had to be distracted in order for her to grab the whip off her and grab the brooch.

Her eyes widened with determination at the idea. "Chat! You need to distract her!" She called out, using her hands to make her voice sound louder.

Chat stopped dodging Nathalie's attacks for a quick moment. "What? But I don't want to hurt her!" He cried.

Meanwhile Nathalie lashed her whip out at a bus with several people on it trying to hide from her. The bus levitated off the ground and all the people within it became under Nathalie's influence. This distracted Ladybug and Chat from communicating what Ladybug's idea was, so she decided to fight Nathalie on her own while Chat defeated the people that were under her influence.

But what Chat didn't realise was that when a person was under the influence, they could touch another and they would come under the influence as well. Luckily, he realised just in time and flung himself up into the air and onto a nearby roof using his staff. It was then he saw that all the people could fly into the sky. This made Chat do nothing but run away while swinging his baton behind him to protect himself.

Ladybug had managed to wrap the string of her yoyo fully around Nathalie, and was pulling her into her grasp before she felt of an unknown presence behind her; she jumped in immediate reaction to see that there were more people under Nathalie's influence. With an evil laugh, Nathalie broke free from Ladybug's yoyo and whipped a few more people before unleashing her next command.

"Grab Ladybug and Cat Noir! Then take them to the Agreste Mansion; I have some unfinished business to attend to." She ordered, evilly smiling as she glared at the Agreste Mansion.

Everyone that was under her control nodded in response before running full force towards Ladybug and flying towards Cat Noir who was still jumping roof to roof avoiding their attacks. Eventually he ran in a big circle and managed to make it back to Ladybug and help her fend off the people under Nathalie's dark influence.

"So I take the ones on the left, you take the ones on the right?" Chat asked, confused by what plan Ladybug had now.

Sighing in realisation that Chat wasn't as emotional as he was before, she turned to him with a small annoyed glare. "We don't have time to fight these guys; we need to find out what that woman really wants."

So the two of them managed to fend them off, while Ladybug was very close to being touched. Luckily she and Chat were able to make it out, and then they both made their way to the Agreste Mansion, which was very near. Ladybug worried herself that Adrien could now be in danger, she knew his time table very well and she knew that he would be home around this time, so the first thing that came to mind as she and Chat stood in front of the mansion was making sure that Adrien was safe.

She started to make her way towards Adrien's bedroom, wanting to see that he was safe, Chat followed while assuming that they were going to give Nathalie a sneak attack, but then a gasp escaped ladybug's mouth once they peered through the glass.

"Where is he?" She asked, darting her eyes across the room and seeing no trace of Adrien.

Chat bit his lip, he had to think up of something quick but he didn't know what he could say. He stuttered a little before he finally came up with something.

"Maybe he hid somewhere safe when Nat- the woman came barging in?" he suggested, rubbing his neck nervously.

Ladybug hummed in reply before the two of them climbed through the window and into Adrien's room. Chat turned to his bed, having a sudden feeling of regret and having upsetting thoughts; more than anything he wanted to crash on his bed and forget that any of this ever happened. While he stared at his bed, Ladybug found something and called out for his attention.

He darted over, and saw the picture of Adrien and his mother, with the brooch in plain sight. That was when Chat started to back away in worry that she would discover who he really was, though excited that she could find out in this very moment, he was terrified at the same time.

"It's that same brooch; she must be related to Adrien somehow..." She wondered, before something clicked in her head, making her realise why Chat was so worried and anxious around that woman. "I know why you don't want to fight her..."

A gulp as large as an apple squeezed down Chat's throat as his heart pounded out of his chest and his muscles tightened, he knew it. This was it. It was going to be the time where his secret identity would be revealed to Ladybug, and completely forgetting the positive outlook he had on this, he backed away towards the window, secretly wanting to run before Ladybug turned to him with the look of mild shock on her face.

She held the photo up towards him, Chat had to look, even if he was just looking at a picture of himself, he had to look at the picture and not Ladybug, whom he was sure had an extremely shocked look on her face by this point. He closed his eyes tightly before Ladybug began to speak in a more calmer tone than he was expected.

"This is Adrien's mother, and you're one of Adrien's friends. That's why you don't want to hurt her." She stated.

Shrinking his lips as he processed what Ladybug just said to him and then his muscles relaxed in relief that she didn't find out. It was too close for call, he thought as he walked up to Ladybug, examining the photograph. He held it up, examining the brooch on his mother's chest, seeing if there was a way to unhook it from her. While in thought, Ladybug tossed some ideas around.

"Perhaps if I tie her up you can grab the brooch off her and then I'll cleanse the akuma." She suggested, a confident smile printed on her face.

Almost dazed out by admiring the picture of him and his mother, Chat shook his head and nodded in response to Ladybug's plan.

"Good idea, but where is she now?" He asked, the two of them looking around in silence, waiting to hear something.

Not a moment later was the sound of two large doors being smacked to the ground; they both ran out of the room and saw Nathalie zooming up the stairs. Chat was the first to panic, realising that his father could be in danger.

"We have to hurry! She's after Gabriel!" Chat cried, as he directed Ladybug towards where the woman was going.

Grabbing her yoyo and swinging it to the opposite end of the room, Ladybug swung herself towards the top of the stairs while Chat followed closely behind. It then grew too quiet for comfort; the pair looked around, confused and tense about what was going to happen next. Then Chat saw his father's office, he ran towards it while silently gesturing a following arm to Ladybug.

They both leant against the door; they could hear something on the other side of the door. So, both knowing exactly what to do as they nodded at each other, Ladybug and Cat Noir stood back with their weapons in hand. With a whisper to three, the two superheroes knocked down the door and quickly examined the room, ready for what was going to happen next.

But then, they saw what they least was expecting. Their jaws dropped and their pupils shrunk in pure shock and surprise at the scene presented before them.

"Welcome Ladybug and Cat Noir. We meet at last."

 **And there I go again... XD Oh I'm pretty sure I've got you guys hanging off the seat now, but please don't pressure me! I'll get the next Chapter up as soon as I can; I just have a life you know? Jeez for some reason that Chapter was hard to budge out in some places, oh well it all worked out in the end.**

 **So I think the next Chapter should be up in the next 2-3 days, but it may be delayed because of my course. Oh well, I'll see you when I upload Chapter 12! ^^**


	12. A Big Fight

**I seriously didn't think that this story would get so much popularity in such little time! You know, I wasn't actually going to start uploading this story until I finished writing the whole thing. But then I grew too excited and posted it...then woke up the next day to 26 emails XD Wow, I seriously didn't see that coming. And I see with every new Chapter I upload the numbers get bigger and bigger, I am really glad so many people love my story. :)**

 **I'm just thanking you guys for cheering me on as I spend an hour or so trying to write out these Chapters, believe me I love this story just as much as you guys do, but I bet you love it more because you don't know what's going to happen next ;)**

 **Well, better get on with the chapter. Also another reminder that most of this story is based on my theories and may or may not be canon once everything's been revealed and all if you know what I mean. So no pointing fingers at me if I was wrong about something that hasn't happened yet, I didn't know.**

 **Enjoy Chapter 12 of Revelations! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 12 – A Big Fight**

A shocking and almost unbelievable scene was placed before Ladybug and Cat Noir. They were never expecting to see Hawkmoth alongside his latest akumatised victim, and Chat especially was shocked by this because of the location. Both heroes took a fighting stance as they shot glares at the villains. Hawkmoth chuckled, looking down as he rested his hands firmly on his staff.

"You two are pathetic. I know you won't win this time." He implied with a smirk, looking up slightly at the duo.

The pair growled in insult, but yet neither of them was expecting this to happen at all, they knew of him but could never find him, or know who he really was underneath the mask. But now they knew that today was either going to end in great victory or in deep shame and loss.

"I don't think so Hawkmoth, you're done for!" Ladybug shouted, clenching her fist.

Chat saw his akumatised mother looking up at Hawkmoth; he started to worry deeply that she would tell him that he was really Adrien underneath the mask, and it worried him further if Hawkmoth was someone he knew. The only person that came close to even looking a little similar to Hawkmoth was his father, but he didn't want to think that way about him. He knew his father meant well and he had strict rules, but would never seek out to control others, unless they were his assistant or son of course.

"You really think you two can outsmart me? You are greatly mistaken." He said in a lower tone, smirking before turning his head to Nathalie. "Fight them." He ordered.

With a high leap into the air, Nathalie lashed out her whip directly at the duo. Chat and Ladybug gasped then dodged in opposite directions, with Chat near a corner of the room while Ladybug jumped forward, closer to Hawkmoth.

Ever since the two of them became superheroes of Paris, their primary goal was to protect Paris from harm, but their second most was stopping Hawkmoth once and for all, taking back the miraculous he stole so things would be normal for them again. Neither of them knew how long Hawkmoth had been akumatising people but they knew it to be for a long time as they both had lost track of how many akumas they've stopped ever since they started to protect Paris.

Ladybug headed straight towards Hawkmoth, she could see the confidence in his expression as he stood there still and calm, before Ladybug was in arm's reach and he threw ladybug across the room with one arm, making her crash against the wall. Chat cried in response, deeply worried and angered by what Hawkmoth just did. Unfortunately Chat couldn't go over to Ladybug as he was too busy fighting off his own mother.

He could see Ladybug getting up with some ease, relieved that she was alright as the pair continued to fight. Chat wanted to speak freely to his mother to help her be free from Hawkmoth's control, but he knew that with his archenemy and crush in the room it was definitely not the best idea to have.

Chat's main goal right now was to get through to his mother, but he wasn't sure how. He tried to use his staff to get the whip off of her so he could grab the brooch and give it to Ladybug, but right now none of that seemed possible in the slightest. Ladybug was busy trying to fight to get Hawkmoth's miraculous while Hawkmoth was trying to do the same to her, and his own mother was fighting him with a mind controlling whip. He wished there was only one simple way to fix everything, but he knew that since Ladybug was the good luck and he was the bad luck, things never really go well for him.

Seeing that the fight was only getting more repetitive and going almost nowhere, he decided to speak honestly with her but in whisper tones, sincerely hoping that she wouldn't reveal anything. Yet he knew the risk he was taking was very large, but he was willing to do it for one of the two people he loved more than anyone else.

"Please mother, don't be like this!" He cried in a harsh whisper, as he and Nathalie were face to face, her whip wrapped around his baton tightly.

Nathalie growled, pulling the whip off Chat's baton successfully, and with the force so strong she managed to loosen Chat's grip on his baton. It went flying across the room over near Ladybug and Hawkmoth. Ladybug turned for a moment to see the baton bounce against the wall before landing on the ground, it caught her off guard for a moment, making Chat cry out to her in attention. She turned and saw Hawkmoth's staff less than an inch away from her face; she quickly dodged it towards the direction of Chat's staff. She grabbed it and looked up, seeing that Chat was trying all his could to defend himself, she knew he wasn't going to fight her.

So before Chat could be taken under Nathalie's control, Ladybug threw his baton at him and he quickly extended it for the whip to be wrapped around it once again. This time, showing determination, Chat pulled quickly with all the strength he had, knowing the consequences as his cat ears lowered suddenly in reluctance to hear the thud of a person hitting the wall behind him.

He turned quickly, grabbing the whip off her and thinking of nothing else but talking directly to her, he knew that he had to get the brooch, but he was extremely eager to talk some things out with his mother. He turned to see Ladybug trying to wrap her yoyo around Hawkmoth but he was using the same technique that Chat had just used on Nathalie, he found slightly uncanny before he turned back to his mother.

"Mother, I care about you a lot and I don't want to lose you..." He cried, as his lips trembled with tears developing in his cat eyes, and a hand caressing his mother's cheek.

For a moment there was heartfelt silence, Chat could see the love in her eyes for a split second before suddenly they both heard the sound of a window being smashed. Zipping their heads around they saw Hawkmoth next to a smashed window bringing his staff forward as Ladybug zipped across the room with her yoyo constantly spinning in hand.

Then Nathalie pulled the rug from underneath Chat, she kicked him in the chest, making him fall back as Nathalie quickly grabbed her whip and proceeded to attack Cat Noir with it, but then her hand was stopped by Ladybug's yoyo wrapping itself tightly around her wrist. Ladybug was doing all she could to protect Chat and defeat Hawkmoth, the sound of evil laughter from the man only made Ladybug more frustrated and angered.

"If only there was a way to akumatised you little bug." He suggested, grinning evilly as he quickly approached Ladybug with his arm extended outwards.

Ladybug growled in hearing of a nickname from her archenemy before quickly jumping in the air and pulling Nathalie along with her, she flung Nathalie across the room next to Chat who was almost fully recovered from the kick to the chest. Ladybug returned to fending off Hawkmoth as Chat knelt by his mother's side while she groaned in pain.

Chat caressed Nathalie's face again as she slowly opened her eyes, seeing Adrien for a split second before her eye vision focused and the figure before her turned into Cat Noir. Her expression was nothing but shock of discovery.

"Adrien..?" She whispered in realisation.

The black cat smiled and nodded in response as he clasped his hand with hers. "It's me mother, I missed you so much."

Nathalie looked down in thought, her lips parted slightly before looking up at her adoring son. She smiled slightly before she could feel someone controlling her from the inside of her mind. Behind the pair Hawkmoth had Ladybug distracted long enough for Hawkmoth to tell Nathalie what to do.

"Don't listen to anything he says Slave Driver, fight!" he demanded, before dodging another one of Ladybug's attacks.

With Hawkmoth's power more powerful than Chat's loving words, her face returned to hate as she used both her legs this time to make Chat fly across the room and hit the wall, making Ladybug gasp in response before continuing to fight Hawkmoth.

But now she had two people attacking her at once, it was difficult to prevent herself from being under Nathalie's control while also trying to protect both hers and Cat Noir's miraculous from Hawkmoth. She knew that now would be her best bet to use a lucky charm, but she didn't know how it would come to great use because this was more than just an akumatised victim, she was also fighting the cause of all the victims who were akumatised. Ladybug felt like her lucky charm wouldn't be enough to defeat Hawkmoth; it felt too weak to her.

So she decided not to use it as a last resort, she wasn't sure how her lucky charm would help since she had no time to think while she was doing many other things at the same time, she needed Chat's help but could see that he was still groaning in pain as he tried to get himself up. The navy haired superhero bit her lip as she waved her yoyo in a circular motion, and then she made a quick manoeuvre so she could get to Chat and protect the moth of them.

Unfortunately Chat landed in a corner so now the pair was trapped with nowhere else to go. Nathalie was constantly whipping out her whip while Hawkmoth slowly approached the two with an evil smirk printed across his face.

"Nowhere to go now Ladybug, give up while you still can and hand me your miraculous!" Hawkmoth demanded, quickly extending an arm out in reach for the miraculous.

"Never!" She yelled, before lashing her yoyo at him, making the string loop around his arm before she sent him flying across the room, leaving Nathalie there in worry of her controller. She turned her head back to Ladybug and Chat who was now standing next to Ladybug with a hand clenched against his lower chest in pain.

"I'm glad you're here to protect me." He said gratefully.

Ladybug smiled in reply, before seeing Chat grab his baton and preparing to fight. Ladybug continued to battle Hawkmoth while Chat continuously tried and tried to snap his mother out of the akuma attack without revealing his secret identity to neither Ladybug nor Hawkmoth.

"Mother...please, I don't want to fight you." He pleaded, still swinging his baton around him as a protective barrier.

Nathalie lashed out her whip in anger before growling at the black cat. "Don't be such a scaredy cat and fight!" She demanded, preparing to lash the whip out on him again.

He always wondered where he got the sense of humour from, now he knew. Chat quickly ducked and successfully avoided Nathalie's whip. He wanted to get near her so he could grab that brooch off of her, but he knew he could only get close to her with his words. Every time he spoke to her like this made Nathalie snap out of for a moment, so he knew that was the perfect opportunity to grab the brooch and throw it over to Ladybug while fending off Hawkmoth for her while she cleansed the akuma.

So as Chat tried to grab a hold of Nathalie's whip again, Ladybug tried to wrap her yoyo around Hawkmoth's staff so that she could get close enough to grab the miraculous off his chest and defeat Hawkmoth forever. She successfully managed to grab his staff and break it in half, causing Hawkmoth to growl angrily as he used his body to attack her. Approaching at a fast speed, he let out a punch, only for Ladybug to dodge it and swing away from Hawkmoth for a moment so she could rethink her position.

She landed behind Hawkmoth, only for him to quickly turn around and smack his hand against her face to make her move with the direction of the hand slightly. She planted her hand against her now sore cheek as it reddened in pain. In the other hand she spun around her yoyo and growled at Hawkmoth before she flew up again but this time she was able to swing around Hawkmoth and wrap the string from her yoyo around him several times.

It felt like it was a closing victory, Ladybug could taste it, yet it still felt all so easy to her. She decided to take advantage of it anyway as she could see Chat making progress with Nathalie and Hawkmoth was wrapped up in the black strings of her strong unbreakable yoyo.

"You can't defeat me!" Hawkmoth cried with an angered glare at the heroine.

Ladybug tightened the string around Hawkmoth, making his arms and legs press hard against his body, she smirked in her easy success with the doubts of this being too easy still hanging around in the back of her head as she approached Hawkmoth, prepared to grab the butterfly miraculous off of him once and for all.

That was right before Ladybug heard a name she definitely wasn't expecting to hear.

"Adrien!' Nathalie cried, being snapped out of Hawkmoth's control once again.

Both Hawkmoth and Ladybug quickly turned, not seeing Adrien at all but instead a shocked Nathalie against the wall with a very frightened and anxious Cat Noir. Hawkmoth was the first to react, taking Nathalie's assumption into deep thought.

"Adrien!? That can't be you!" He cried in denial.

All this time while Hawkmoth and Nathalie were in shock, Ladybug stood there silently, awestruck and speechless. She was extremely worried that the woman was talking about Chat being Adrien. She shook her head in deep disbelief before whispering his name to herself; she did see the similarities but still chose to deny it.

Before anything else could help confirm their suspicions, Chat saw this opportunity as a chance to grab the brooch and throw it to Ladybug. The navy haired heroine managed to grab the brooch and smash it against the ground, releasing the akuma inside and causing Hawkmoth to scream in defeat.

"No more evil doing for you little akuma, time to de-evilise!" She said before reaching out for the akuma with her yoyo, cleansing it of Hawkmoth's evil powers before releasing it. "Bye bye little butterfly."

Realising she hadn't even used her lucky charm; she wiped her forehead in relief, before she turned to Chat to see him embracing the woman that was just akumatised. But before she could say anything about it, a firm hand pressed hard against her shoulder. She looked up and saw Hawkmoth's angered expression.

"You may have won this round, but this is only just the beginning!" He declared, before a brilliant flash of light appeared from his miraculous before engulfing the room, blinding the three that were in the room.

When their eyes opened, they saw that Hawkmoth was gone. Cat Noir and Ladybug sighed in deep relief before Ladybug rushed over to Chat who still looked deeply anxious about the events of the name 'Adrien' being called out. He did not dare look at her, expecting to see the face of shock and realisation, but he only saw at the corner of his eye Ladybug looking at him for a moment before she knelt down closer to the now normal Nathalie.

"Are you alright miss?" Ladybug asked caringly.

Nathalie nodded with a hum as she rubbed her temple on one side, groaning shortly afterwards in pain from the battle. She stood up slowly; Chat and Ladybug assisted her in the process, before Chat highly requested that Ladybug should leave now.

"Please Ladybug, for the sake of my identity." He pleaded; resting a hand on Ladybug's making her blush slightly.

She nodded in reply, quickly leaving the room and hearing nothing else but the muffled sound of Chat's voice. She ran out the door and swung herself all the way back home. She landed on the top of her steps, releasing Tikki from her transformation before Marinette collapsed on the bed in both tiredness and deep thought of Adrien quite possibly being Cat Noir all this time.

She turned around, face towards the ceiling with her hands clasped gently against her chest. Tikki rested by her head with a worried look for her owner.

"Are you okay Marinette?" She asked worryingly.

Marinette sighed before she turned again, and then seeing the only poster of Adrien she had stuck to the wall. She began to compare Adrien's kind hearted personality against Chat's over confident personality. It didn't match up to her, she didn't seem to think it made any sense.

"If Adrien was Cat Noir...I-I can't imagine him being like that..." She explained, stuttering in fear of Adrien being Cat Noir.

Tikki landed on her should and gave a slight pat to Marinette on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it too much now Marinette, you could have heard wrong or perhaps Adrien was outside the room at that very same time and he just ran away straight before you turned around?" Tikki suggested, shrugging.

The navy haired teen grabbed her pillow and stuffed her face into it with frustration. She didn't want to think of Adrien this way. She did admit to herself that Adrien and Chat had the same eye and hair colour, but almost nothing else was the same about them. It was easy to see the differences between the two, but yet trying to see them standing next to each other way almost impossible to imagine as Marinette had never seen Chat and Adrien in the same room at once.

She had suspicions about it, but deeply doubted that it would be true. Marinette shook her head and carried on with her day, trying to avoid thinking about that possibility of her crush being her crime fighting partner whom she sees every single day. She didn't want to think about it but her mind wouldn't go to anything else but that.

 **Oh man am I tired...? *yawns* This graphic design course is really getting to me. My eyes were getting drowsy halfway through writing this chapter but luckily I was able to pull through in the end ^^ So, I bet some of you were expecting something bigger to happen, but why not this semi reveal? Remember, Marinette hasn't pieced it together yet but she has high doubts about it ;)**

 **So it kinda sucks that there won't be any new episodes this upcoming Sunday, but I'd say expect the next Chapter around that time, so I'll see you then! :D**


	13. Conflicted

**Yeah...I would've done this sooner but other things came up so I do apologise for not keeping fully up to date with this story like I said I would...but anyways, it's really nice to see how much all of you guys are interested in this story and my theories. To be honest I don't find the Nathalie mom thing to be true now that I really think about it, but let's just stick with it ;)**

 **Also, to those of you that are new and might be confused with some parts due to the new episodes, almost anything in those new episodes I have taken out, like the Nino liking Marinette thing, even though he doesn't like her that way anymore. I am leaving some parts of the new episodes in, just not all of them. It's just so you don't get confused :)**

 **Well, on with the Chapter then. Enjoy Chapter 13 of Revelations! ^^ Oh and sorry but I'm making the characters seem very clueless about each other's true identities...*giggle***

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 13 – Conflicted**

As Sunday arrived, Marinette was still in the deep end of denying Adrien was Cat Noir, the similarities were becoming all too the same, merging the two into one. She shook her head vigorously, denying that the flirtatious and over confident Cat Noir was the nice and well reserved Adrien Agreste. She may have been mistaken, maybe she was worrying about all of this over nothing, but she wanted a clear head about this. Her curiosity didn't leave her alone until she would know for sure if Adrien was indeed Cat Noir.

There just wasn't a way to really know without asking him upfront. She didn't want to do that, her shyness always overcame her when he was even ten feet away from him, or even on the other side of the room. And what if Adrien really was Cat Noir? It meant that all those times she had been with Chat and all those quirky remarks and teases she gave him were really moments she had with her crush.

And then her thoughts dwelled deeper, she remembered Chat confessing his feelings to her the week before. If Adrien was indeed Chat, then that would mean for certainty that Adrien liked her back. It made her blush a deep crimson as her heart raced, Tikki interrupted, not wanting Marinette to get caught up.

"Marinette, you can never know for sure. The only way is to ask him and it's too risky, you could put your secret identity on the line too." Tikki informed, deeply worried and caring of Marinette.

Biting her lip, Marinette's eyes turned to a floating worried kwami, making the heat from her face cool and her heart slow down a little. She sighed in a saddened tone, knowing that her kwami was right.

"I know...but how do I know for sure? It's killing me now that I heard Adrien's name called out when he wasn't around!" She cried, falling face first into her bed, ending in a muffled groan.

The little red and black spotted kwami rested softly against Marinette's pillow, with her lips curled into a small assuring smile. "Don't worry Marinette, you'll find a way. You always do." She complimented with a grin, closing her eyes.

Marinette arched her neck up to show her face to Tikki, seeing the adorable expression printed on the kwami's face always made her smile, but then she took into account Tikki's words. They were words that Tikki had said so many times before, it made Marinette lower her eyebrows as she frowned.

"But you always say that, and nothing really happens...You said that about if I should reveal who I really was to Adrien..." Marinette explained, moaning towards the end before hiding her face within her pillow.

Sighing as she could see that she wasn't getting through to Marinette, she flew up and floated next to the poster of Adrien. "Come over here and look at this." She requested, pointing towards the poster.

Marinette raised her head slightly, seeing where Tikki was. She raised an eyebrow, seeing that it was the only poster of Adrien on her wall, and wondered why a poster of him would have anything to do with the situation. Without asking any more questions, she got up and walked over to the poster, eyeing Tikki with a raised eyebrow of confusion.

"I don't understand, why do I need to see this? I see this every day." Marinette implied, oblivious to what Tikki was about to explain.

Tikki smiled before gently landing herself on Marinette's shoulder, pointing her eyes into where they should be looking. "Look, what do you see?" She asked.

Marinette had no idea where Tikki was going with this, it was only a simple poster of Adrien. It was her favoured poster from the rest, even though she loved all of them. She adored his elliptical emerald eyes, his blonde hair pushed to the side, the way he always smiled make Marinette awe in adoration. She tried to think hard about what Tikki meant, but still couldn't read on the same level as her kwami.

"Um...Adrien." She answered bluntly. "Who else?" She asked, shrugging her shoulders as she looked at her kwami.

The little kwami faced the poster once again, already seeing what she wanted Marinette to see. "Look deeper." She insisted. "Beyond his looks, what do you see?"

The navy haired teen hummed in thought as she scanned the poster from a shorter distance, narrowing her eyes on Adrien's face. She adored his looks, he was a very attractive teenager, and she was surprised that despite liking Ladybug he didn't have a girlfriend at all. And then suddenly, with widened eyes that's when it hit her.

Adrien was a kind hearted, respectful, friendly, loving and honest person. He wouldn't hurt anyone if there was the chance; he was never mean, always nice and respectful to others around him. Although he lived a strict life, he made the most of it with people he likes. He seemed like a dream boy to her, she would give a dazed look every time he walked on by. She knew what the extent of his honesty was; he was able to confess to her who he really likes, without knowing he was actually telling Ladybug herself.

If Adrien had that sort of guts to tell someone they liked someone else, even after they knew about that person liking them back, he was truly brave and honest about himself, and Marinette could to if given the chance.

"I've got an idea!" Marinette stated firmly, clenching her fists as her face was filled with confidence and determination.

Meanwhile at the Agreste mansion, Nathalie hid out in Adrien's bedroom, embracing her son several times in rejoice while explaining to him why she had been like this for years around him. Adrien had wanted to know why she was like this ever since he found out after all this time his mother was his father's personal assistant.

"It was your father; somehow...I was just able to obey what he said within the blink of an eye..." She explained, demonstrating the face she gave every time Gabriel told her to do something.

This made Adrien look down in thought as he rested a hand underneath his chin. "How did that happen?" He asked, looking up at his mother.

Nathalie cleared her throat and straightened her posture, before taking in a deep breath and then slouching again as she remembered the day when it all happened. "It was late...Thursday night..." She began, her words trailing off. "You were already in bed, sound asleep. I was with your father, discussing about your future."

 _Flashback_

 _Rain started to fall outside on a hot summer's night, a 12 year old Adrien was sound asleep in his room. Little did he know was that there was bickering and arguing not far from his room._

 _Nathalie and Gabriel were discussing Adrien's options for the future, as Adrien was entering his teen years Nathalie wanted only what was best for her son, but Gabriel wanted something else from his son._

" _Look Nathalie, I've told you this a thousand times...I don't want our son out there in a public school!" He shouted, pounding his fists against the table._

 _Nathalie stood up abruptly, glaring at her husband. "How else is he going to make friends?! You have to accept that he can't be a controlled child forever, he needs to go out and be with other people!" She exclaimed._

 _Gabriel growled under his breath, narrowing his eyebrows at Nathalie. "I know what is best for my own son." He stated firmly, calming down the tone of his voice._

 _The woman pressed her lips together firmly, her hands clenched tightly into a fist next to her hips, one of her emerald eyes twitched as she saw the selfishness in her own husband. "Adrien is OUR son!" She corrected, raising the volume of her voice._

" _And you are my wife! I expect you to respect my decisions!" He yelled, pounding his fists against the table as he stood up abruptly, glaring at his wife._

 _Tears formed in Nathalie's eyes, she was beginning to lose it, and she didn't want to wake her poor son up with her loud yells and screams at his father. "I expect you to respect mine!" She cried, in a lower tone, but still anger heating every word she said._

 _Gabriel moved around the table, his hands clenched into fists of anger and frustration. "Listen to me woman, he is not going anywhere! He is my son! I will raise him how I want to raise him and you can't stop me!"_

 _Finding a quick solution to this argument, she left the room with her eyebrows deeply narrowed. "Watch me!" She whispered, before she heard him growl and run after her._

 _Nathalie ran towards Adrien's room, very reluctant to wake up him up now but knew that the only way out of this was to take Adrien away from his father, Adrien needed a happy and free life, with less restrictions than he has now. She wanted to see him smile more and have friends, be more outgoing and free spirited like she was. Tears engulfed her eyes as she saw before her exactly what she was doing. She never expected the night to end like this. Nathalie didn't want to run away with her only child, but it felt like it was the right thing to do to make Adrien's life better._

 _As her hand touched the door knob of Adrien's bedroom, her hand was tightly grasped by Gabriel, not long before his palm met her cheek at a fast speed, making her skin redden in pain as she sulked, closing her eyes and looking away from Gabriel's intense angered expression._

" _Now you listen to me, he is my son. The only thing you ever did for him was carry him around for nine months! I know exactly what is best for him. He doesn't need someone like you messing up who he is truly meant to be!" He yelled, not realising the two of them were right next to Adrien's bedroom._

 _But as Nathalie sulked silently, no changes in sudden movement from Adrien's bedroom were heard. In Gabriel's mind he sighed in relief, the last thing he wanted was his son at the door behind them asking what was going on. So since that didn't happen, Gabriel kept his grip tightened around Nathalie's wrist as they both went upstairs and into Gabriel's office._

 _He slammed the door shut on his way in, it was then that he locked the door and allowed Nathalie to sit down in front of his desk. Then, Nathalie's eyes deceived her as a brilliant flash of light appeared._

 _And then there was nothing but darkness._

 _Flashback Ended._

Nathalie continued from where she left off. "And then a little while later I remember sitting at a desk of my own doing work for Gabriel. I don't know how he was able to give me amnesia or make me able to do everything he told me...but I knew one thing to be sure. Gabriel is hiding something."

Adrien took this very deeply into account. With every word of explanation his mother gave him, the more curious and suspicious he was about his father. He never realised how manipulative and selfish he really was until he heard that story. He looked down as he thought down a path he hadn't thought down before.

Could he possibly be the man he and Ladybug were looking for?

He shook his head in denial, not wanting to believe his own father was his archenemy and the one who wanted the miraculous from him and Ladybug. It was too difficult to believe that his father could be that controlling over so many people just to get what he wanted. But it made more sense than it did less, he needed to know for sure if his father was indeed Hawkmoth, but he didn't know how to figure that out.

Thanking his mother for the information, Nathalie crept out of the room and headed for the front door, not spotted by Gabriel or anyone else by the time she had passed the gates. Adrien fell into his bed as Plagg came out from hiding.

"You do realise she might know you in your other form? How come you haven't said anything yet!?" Plagg cried, deeply worried about the cat being out of the bag.

Then Adrien's head was weighted with more heavy thoughts, he had not thought about that part very much as he was more concerned about making sure his mother was safe and what happened to her all these years. But now that it was on his mind, he wished he could bring her back in and ask her. She knew something about him being Cat Noir, and it worried him that she knew without even saying anything else besides his name, but he knew she could be trusted with a big secret like this.

He stayed like this, confused and conflicted in his mind as the day carried on around him.

The next day at school, Adrien tried to make the most of his thoughts and keep them well hidden. He wasn't sure if it was right to tell anyone yet about his mother returning, he feared that there would be questions asked that he couldn't answer, just because it was too hurtful and mean for what his father did to Nathalie.

He walked into school; the first person he saw was Nino. He waved with a friendly smile as he approached his best friend.

"Hey dude, you're looking well." Nino stated, widening his smile as he fist bumped his best pal.

Adrien replied with a slightly guilty expression as he looked away for a moment before speaking. "Yeah, I'm alright now. That weekend gave me plenty of time to feel better about my family stuff...you know what I mean." He quickly added in the end, to make it seem like it was about his father being strict again.

"Gotcha." Nino assured, giving a wink.

But yet, it was actually about his father being strict, he had even been strict on his own wife and found a way to control her for a little over three years, it was impossible to think about without a negative expression being well presented on his face. He quickly shook his head, brushing the thought aside as he and his best friend headed for their lockers.

In all the meanwhile, Marinette had told Alya she had some unfinished business to do before she would meet her in class. She hung around the locker room and saw Adrien nearby with Nino, heading towards their lockers. Tikki peeped her head over Marinette's shoulder, looking up to see Marinette's determination slowly slip away as the blonde teen walked further into the locker room.

"You can do it Marinette, ask him as soon as you get the chance." Tikki assured her, trying to keep Marinette's confidence up high.

Marinette breathed in and out deeply, trying to calm herself down as she waited anticipating the moment in which Adrien would be alone. She watched from afar, trying to keep her eyes off him most of the time as to not look suspicious. And then, the moment arrived. Nino had left early to catch up with another friend before class, and Adrien was left alone at his locker preparing his things for class.

By this time, half the students that were in the locker room when Adrien first entered were now gone. Tikki decided it was the best time for Marinette to initiate her idea on full force. Not seeing anyone else in sight, she flew up next to Marinette's head.

"Come on Marinette, now is your chance! Don't waste it."

By hearing those words come out of Tikki's mouth reminded Marinette of how Alya would speak to her sometimes. Then she was pushed suddenly by her little kwami into the direction of Adrien, her cheeks turned crimson, her shyness and anxiety took full control and made her be extremely doubtful about her idea working.

"It's not going to work; he's going to find out in the instant that I'm Ladybug! And if he isn't Chat Noir, then what do I do!?" She cried, not seeing the obvious advance towards that situation.

Tikki sighed in frustration, before pushing Marinette again until she was in Adrien's sight, making her unable to go back without a smile and wave. Adrien waved with a smile in response, glad to see that she was holding up after what he told her, he continued to ready his things while ignoring Plagg's plea for more cheese.

The bell rang, and that's when almost everyone else left the locker room to get to their classes. Marinette took in a deep breath and clenched her fists tightly before opening and relaxing them as she started to walk over towards Adrien.

"Adrien, can I talk to you?" She asked, very surprised she did not stutter at all during that sentence.

The blonde teen turned before shutting his locker gently, his mouth slightly open in wonder and curiosity of what Marinette wanted to talk to him about.

Marinette approached him, her head down as she felt the blush warm up her cheeks. She could feel Adrien's emerald eyes staring at her, waiting for what she had to say.

"What is it Marinette?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and curling his lips into a small adoring smile.

The nervous teenage girl fiddled with her fingers as she looked away, she was too worried about her own identity being revealed to her crush. If Adrien was indeed Cat Noir, it would raise a lot of pros and cons. But she had to ask very subtly.

"You...have heard of Cat Noir right..? What do you think of him?"

Adrien widened his eyes in sudden surprise of the topic; he bit his lower lip in slight nervousness. He didn't know what to respond with.

 **Okay, I'm sorry but it's really hard to include fluff in this story when all I want to write about is Adrien and his family. But hopefully in the next few chapters I am able to get more up to par with the fluff between these two. I feel like I've been ignoring the romance side to this story more than I should be. I know I have to balance it out but still...I like more romance, don't you agree?**

 **Well, that's all for Chapter 13. Looks like I'll see you in a few days for Chapter 14! ^^**


	14. A Positive Note

**Things have been real tight on deviantART and in my graphic design course; I just got assigned a whole lot of homework that I have to finish before next week. Now don't worry guys, even with doing this Chapter I'll still have time to do it all. ;)**

 **So I am really confident that this chapter will have more fluff in it, I can't say how much I guess I'll just write as I go along. With other fanfics I've read they have a lot of fluff, I actually don't understand that with the lack of romance I have in this story many people still love to read it. Is it the plot or something...? Or am I just doing an overall good job? Lol, I dunno...**

 **Anyways, here's Chapter 14 of Revelations. Enjoy! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 14 – A Positive Note**

Adrien rubbed his neck nervously; he remembered mentioning Cat Noir to Marinette some time ago when he was helping her defeat the Evillustrator as Cat Noir, but he doesn't remember saying much about his alter ego to her. So with a raised eyebrow he answered calmly.

"Well I know he works with Ladybug to protect the town, why do you ask?" He asked, holding a hand out in question.

Marinette pressed her lips together firmly as her blue irises looked at everything else except Adrien's face, she knew that the question was going to arise, but she had to remain confident. She let the words of Tikki repeat themselves in her mind to calm down, Adrien could see the deep breaths emitting from Marinette's nose, why was she nervous? He wondered.

"Oh...well I was just wondering because you two kind of look alike...?" She answered, unsure of her answer. She could tell Tikki was face palming at the sound of her saying that.

His emerald eyes widened with surprise, he was definitely not expecting Marinette of all people to talk about his alter ego unless he asked. His cheeks turned a light magenta as he sucked in his lips slightly, looking down towards the ground for a quick moment before looking back up at Marinette who was seeking a response.

Adrien gave a nervous laugh to her statement. "Really...? Well that's a little uncanny isn't it?" He said, rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous smile.

Marinette's face seemed more serious now for some reason, it confused Marinette that she was behaving like this towards him; it almost reminded him of how Ladybug would act around him as Cat Noir. He raised an eyebrow in confusion, and before he could ask why she was holding that expression in front of him she parted her lips to speak.

"I heard about your family issues...are you alright? I could hear stuff going on around your place on Saturday..." She began to say, hoping that she would be able to cover up her identity if she had just put it at risk.

The blonde teen widened his eyes again as he felt his heart skip a beat at the sudden shock of how unpredictable Marinette was suddenly getting, somehow she was changing, she rarely acted like this around him. He didn't really take all of their encounters into deep thought but he never remembered seeing Marinette acting this way towards him.

He smiled at her before sighing as the feelings of sadness and confusion overwhelmed his body, he turned his head away for a moment to hide away his conflicted feelings before he turned back to answer, giving a saddened expression along with it.

"Yeah..." He answered in a sad tone, before he lifted his head up more. "Wait, how did you know all that?" He asked, wondering in curiosity and slight suspicion.

Marinette bit her lower lip, she quickly thought of something to cover up her identity. "I'm friends with Ladybug...but don't tell Alya I told you that, please." She begged, not wanting Alya swarming all over her with millions of questions.

Adrien had no idea Marinette actually knew Ladybug as a friend; he had never seen the two together to even hang out or talk. Then, an idea sparked in his mind, before he thought of how that would work out then he threw that idea away. He was going to ask Marinette to talk to Ladybug for him. But that was a bad idea on many levels. He shook his head in denial of that idea working without anything else going wrong or making Marinette feel down again.

"Oh...okay." He replied in a softened tone, looking away slightly. "Well, yeah I guess but I was busy at the time." Adrien added, making Marinette's heart skip a beat.

She wanted to ask more, but feared that she was going too far with this. So she thanked him for the small talk and went off to her lesson as he did the same. When arriving to class Alya immediately assumed that Marinette was being tardy like she almost always is, but she didn't expect Adrien to be late for class also. This made her glare and raise an eyebrow at her best friend as she sat in her seat with a nervous smile.

"Okay, is there something you're not telling me or are you and Adrien arriving late coincidentally?" Alya asked in a whisper as the teacher had begun the lesson.

Marinette prepared her things for the class while giving a nervous look to Alya. She hadn't figured out what to say to her first because she was still deeply conflicted by what Adrien told her moments ago.

So as the lesson carried on, Marinette stared down at Adrien a few times in deep thought, and in that time Adrien thought about his father possibly being Hawkmoth. It was too deep to think about at school but unfortunately he couldn't help but think that way, he sighed every time he tried to take his mind off it and stay on task.

After class at the locker rooms, Marinette was placing her books in her bag when she felt a poking finger in the back of her shoulder. It made her clench her teeth in the sudden touch and tense up as she turned around to see Alya behind her glaring. Marinette sighed in relief before she greeted her best friend and returned to fixing up her books before closing her locker to still see her best friend with the look of suspicion on her face.

"What...?" Marinette asked, seeming clueless.

Alya folded her arms firmly as she tapped her finger, indicating she was waiting for Marinette to do or say something. Her lips curled into a tight frown as her eyebrows narrowed at Marinette, making Marinette feel extremely anxious and worried why her friend was acting this way.

"Tell me it's just a coincidence that's the second time you two have arrived in class basically after the other, and after the bell rang!" She exclaimed, pointing a finger at her.

Marinette twiddled her fingers as she rubbed her foot against the ground shyly. "It was just a coincidence..."

She didn't feel like telling Alya that she actually spoke to him before and that was why the two of them were late for class and arrived at almost the same time. The first time was purely coincidental as far as Marinette knows, but the second time was her fault. Marinette felt like telling Alya about her suspicions towards Adrien possibly being Cat Noir was a really bad idea because she remembers a while ago that Alya had her assumptions as well, but they weren't really serious.

Thinking back to when Alya put a costume over a photo of Adrien on her phone, the resemblance was uncanny. Yet there were a few differences between the two of them. In the photo Adrien's skin didn't look as dark as compared to Cat Noir's, and his hair was messy. Either Adrien had a kwami just like she did so that she couldn't tell the difference or Cat Noir was someone else entirely and she was just wasting her time on nothing.

"Are you sure...? You haven't been talking to him have you..?" Alya asked, stiff miffed about when Adrien said to Marinette's face that he liked someone else.

Marinette looked up with a blank expression before registering what Alya just asked her. Adrien liking her alter ego instead of her was one of the two major problems she was dealing with, and now that Alya brought it up it made the gears in her mind turn faster under intense pressure. But she kept it inside and hid it with a vague smile.

"No, don't worry about it. Just remember Alya, sometimes over thinking your suspicions could be a bad thing." She lectured, before realising she was giving herself a lecture also.

She bit her lip in sudden realisation; she had given not just Alya advice but herself some advice. She started to think that maybe she was overcomplicating her suspicions and worries over Adrien being Cat Noir; she was only basing her suspicions off her near victory fight with Hawkmoth and a woman who turned out to be Adrien's own mother. Remembering back to that day she remembered the woman saying his name before she turned to not see anyone around them except for an anxious cat standing wide eyed. Perhaps he was worried that because the woman said Adrien's name he worried that Adrien might come into the scene and get hurt. She knew from Chat that he knew Adrien as a friend.

So Marinette decided to take the conflicted thoughts and denial away and come to a conclusion that she was only over thinking it. For the remainder of the school day she was left with positive thoughts while Adrien was still feeling conflicted about his family, and then had begun to think about Marinette's sudden brought up subject about his alter ego from that morning.

During break he looked at her in slight suspicion, but then took into account that she was friends with Ladybug so that's how she must have known. He sincerely hoped she didn't tell Marinette everything about him, but he knew for sure that Ladybug wouldn't tell anyone her secret identity, not even hers.

While Adrien talked to Nino to get his mind off his conflicted thoughts, Alya was eyeing Adrien and Nino suspiciously, making Marinette distracted from sketching out some more design ideas. Marinette placed her drawing book and pencil down to look at her friend in concern and confusion, crossing her legs together on the bench.

"You know, it wouldn't be such a bad idea to ask who he really likes?" Alya suggested, smirking a little as she moved her eyes to Marinette.

However, Marinette already knew very clearly who Adrien liked, and Marinette couldn't find a way to work it all out so everything would be fine between the two. She didn't want to tell Alya who he really liked, and she didn't want to lie either. Marinette actually wondered why Alya was getting so caught up in Marinette's love life.

"What? No, it's fine...he doesn't want to tell anyone so that's okay!" Marinette exclaimed, worried that Alya was going to interrogate him.

Alya chuckled with her fingers lightly touching her chest. "I'm just kidding Marinette, but it would be nice to know who she is. But I can respect that, it's just really harsh of him to say that to your face." She admitted.

Marinette shook her head before scratching the back of her head nervously. "Well...not really, I mean he apologised to me about it and he understands that I like him..." She explained, looking away with a light pink blush against her cheeks.

Her best friend's movements turned quick and intense right after Marinette spoke those words. "Are you serious!?" She exclaimed, pulling Marinette in closer in shock. "When did he tell you?" Alya asked, before remembering back to last week when Adrien talked to Marinette, she gasped at the thought. "Was that the time when you talked with Adrien alone?"

The navy haired teen nodded with a small smile, glad to see that Alya figured things out without having her to explain every single detail to her so she would understand. She still felt upset about Adrien not liking her that way in spite of the fact that he knew she liked him, but since it was Ladybug that he had feelings for it was a whole different situation, and it was too difficult for her to handle. She tried to not think about it too much; every time she did it would stress her out a lot.

Alya parted her lips as she slowly nodded, realising she already knew the answer. "Oh...well that makes sense then. But I still can't believe that even though he knows about your feelings he still likes-wait." Alya stopped, realising that Adrien knew of Marinette's feelings without anyone even telling him. "How did he know?"

Marinette shrugged, remembering she didn't get an actual reason from him besides him saying that he's known for a while. It shocked her from the very beginning and it still did, she wondered how he knew, were her hints that obvious? She knew that Alya could tell because she already knew of Marinette's feelings. This made her mind think to Adrien liking Ladybug. That made no sense either; she knew very well that she shared little to no moments with Adrien as Ladybug, the only time was to protect him from the mime and nothing else.

At first she thought it was just a fan crush but she could see in his emerald eyes that it looked so much more like that, it was almost the same adoring look Chat would give her from time to time. She couldn't help but wonder why Adrien would be in love with her alter ego when they barely spent any time together while Marinette was Ladybug, it was a confusing situation that she didn't want to delve deeper into, and so she left it at that.

So the rest of the school day went as it should have been, Marinette had her moments with Alya while Adrien had his moments with Nino, and then came the time to go home for the day.

Marinette and Alya left before most of the students as Alya wanted to leave early to edit another Ladybug video for her blog while Marinette remembered that she had to help her parents out at home with the bakery. Adrien gave a cute smile at the rushed Marinette, he found her cute when she was always quickly moving, either with her words or just moving around quickly to get to places. It kind of reminded him of Ladybug, but instead it was a more cute and clumsy girl moving around.

"I'll see you later Marinette, be sure to check out my video when I upload it. I'll send you a text." Alya called out as she walked quickly away from Marinette towards her home with a wave in goodbye.

With a small chuckle, Marinette waved in reply before she started to head home herself. And after a good hour and a half of helping her parents around in the bakery, she went upstairs to finish her homework before Tikki suggested something for them to do which they hadn't done very much of.

"You know, it's not very often we go on a patrol of Paris. How about we take in the sights so you can get more ideas while also seeing if there are villains to fight?" She suggested, floating above Marinette's tablet with her homework on it.

Marinette grew worried ever since the near victory fight she had with Hawkmoth two days ago, she worried that Hawkmoth's plans were going to become worse from here due to that fight. It made her even more worried when he disappeared from their sight and was nowhere to be found afterwards. However despite her worries she agreed to have a little patrol. She wanted to get more ideas for her designs anyway so she found patrolling to be a relaxing experience for her, as she was able to take in the sights and the environment around her as she leapt from roof to roof looking over most of Paris.

So with a click flash of bright light, Ladybug hopped off her roof and swung from building to building, scanning every area she came across and taking in the sights to get more ideas for designs. She smiled every time she saw a pretty sight, it almost made her sigh as she stood on the higher buildings to feel the cool breeze against her skin and swiftly breezing through her navy hair. Ladybug closed her eyes in embrace before she felt satisfied and then jumped onto another building nearby.

She decided to check around Adrien's house in case Hawkmoth were to be spotted. It had been quiet ever since her fight with Hawkmoth and she was riddled with anxiety of when Hawkmoth's next attack would be. So she scanned the area, knowing not to go inside as she didn't want to trespass on her crush's property and she knew of his father who could be really strict about certain things.

There was nothing unusual to be seen, and then she moved to the park where she hid behind a tree so she wouldn't draw attention from fans, as this was only a patrol and getting ideas for new clothing designs. That was until she heard the sounds of a photographer telling a certain blonde teen to pose in certain ways and the sound of a photo being taken was heard.

A crimson blush crept across Ladybug's cheeks as she turned her head slightly to see Adrien off in the distance in the middle of a photo shoot. Her heart immediately began to pound out of her chest as she realised that she was right there as Ladybug near Adrien who she knew liked her as Ladybug. It made her thoughts run wild with many exciting ideas that she could tell Tikki was trying to bury in the back of her mind.

She could hear Tikki on the inside telling her to stay away as this was not the right way to go about being with Adrien, but Ladybug couldn't help herself. So when the photographers took a break, she looked over and saw Adrien heading over to his bags. She wondered how she could get to talk to him as Ladybug without drawing any outside attention away from what she really wanted to do.

But then, while Ladybug was still looking at him from behind the tree, Adrien turned his head to see someone quickly hide away from him behind the trees. He raised an eyebrow before letting his curiosity take him over there. It wasn't long before his eyes immediately saw who was behind that tree and he felt his heart beat incredibly fast as he felt his cheeks heat up and his eyes widen in sudden surprise.

And there they were, two people who deeply loved each other, but yet neither of them knew what to say. Last time they had seen each other like this was the exact same expressions and sudden stare into each other's eyes. Ladybug was extremely glad she wasn't in the middle of battle or her earrings were signalling her to leave, it was a moment that almost had no time limit whatsoever. But she knew that Adrien would have to go back to his photo shoot in a short while.

Then, Ladybug was caught off guard as Adrien spoke first. Both of them were blushing a deep crimson at each other as their muscles tensed up.

"Um...hi Ladybug..." He greeted, stuttering.

"H-hi..." Ladybug replied in the same tone of nervousness.

Suddenly, Adrien felt an overwhelming urge to hold her in his arms right then and there, but he felt like he was being held back by something but he couldn't tell. But before he knew it, he was touching Ladybug's hand, and this was when the both of them stiffened and looked at each other, staring deep into each other's eyes.

"I...I really like you..." Adrien admitted, not looking away, but could feel his nervousness get to him.

Ladybug intertwined her fingers with his; showing mutual affection to him, Adrien was caught off guard when he felt Ladybug's fingers tighten over his. Was this the moment he had been waiting for? It was too good to be true.

 **Okay, you can kill me now XD Oh god even I was getting the feels in that last part. Now that's what you guys definitely want to see more of don't you? Not just in my story but in the show too! ^^ We don't get to see this ship happen as much as we want don't we? It's because it's the mutual couple! Oh I can't wait till they have another episode with Ladrien moments in it! :D**

 **So, you should expect the next Chapter around the new episode on Sunday (as far I know there should be a new one coming), I'll see you then! ^^**


	15. Some Bad Luck

**Okay so this is late because I've been busy with my graphic design course as well as constantly trying to keep up to date with deviantART, as I go further into this course it's becoming more and more difficult to keep up to date with everything. It's not that I don't like doing this story, it's just that I've only begun to realise how my priorities are set up, and hopefully you understand that my course is more important than this story.**

 **Believe me, I'd love to update this regularly on the days I say I will, even daily if I could! XD But unfortunately lately, I've barely had any time to myself because of this homework overload, but hopefully you guys understand. :) Anyways, I did leave you guys hanging off your seats in the last Chapter, I do apologise about that but I couldn't help myself! XD If I kept on going I wouldn't know what to write next!**

 **So, I think this chapter might end up being all about Ladybug and Adrien but we'll see how I go. ;) Enjoy Chapter 15 of Revelations! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 15 – Some Bad Luck**

Neither of them knew exactly what they were doing, all they could do was stare into each other's eyes as their heart beats synchronised in mutual feelings and attraction. Ladybug was blushing a deep crimson while Adrien's cheeks were no different, both of their eyes now focused on their fingers intertwined with each other's.

It was a moment that Ladybug wanted to cherish forever, but she wished he liked her as Marinette too. Her mind was riddled with the thought of how he could like her when they've barely met this way before?

"H-how can you like me…?" Ladybug asked, the words stuttering out of her mouth. "We've never met like this before…"

Adrien felt like this was the perfect time to tell her everything, yet somehow in the back of his mind this seemed to have bad luck written all over it, but so far so good, he was extremely relieved and happy that he had made it this far to tell the one he truly loves his feelings with that other person showing mutual feelings for the other. Ever since Adrien truly knew it was him that Ladybug had feelings for, he knew then and there he had to confess his feelings to her as Adrien, yet he didn't know how this would all work out for the two of them.

Unfortunately Ladybug wanted to confess to Adrien that she had feelings for her as Marinette, but somehow he already knew about those feelings. She never got a clear answer as to why, but she could only assume that how she acted around him was enough evidence to prove that fact.

"I've liked you since I first met you…" He began to say, feeling like this was the moment he would tell her who he truly was. "I've just never had the true courage to tell you…"

Ladybug could her heat literally beating out of her chest, her mind tangled in deep confusion. She couldn't understand how Adrien would have met her, his words seem too pure to make it seem like this was their first meeting, but to Ladybug this was their first meeting while she was Ladybug. She felt so conflicted inside, she wanted to embrace him tightly but at the same time she wanted to run away and cry.

"Wh-what do you mean…?" She asked, her lips trembling in fear and worry.

Adrien began to stutter at the thought, before he looked up at her.

His emerald eyes met with her sparkling blue eyes, every time he looked into those he was lost in the thought of her, he couldn't think when he was like this. The two of them edged closer to each other, leaving no less than a finger's gap between their lips, their warm breath felt around each other's lips. Ladybug felt so entranced by him that she was under his total control, she could feel his confidence overwriting the overwhelming shyness and fear within her.

With a small whisper as his eyes slowly began to close with Ladybug's lips very close, Adrien finally said the words he had been begging to tell her for a long time.

"I love you Ladybug."

His confession was sealed. Their lips locked and a gush of warmth flowed through their bodies, the warmth felt from the kiss made everything seem like a giant fantasy come true. Ladybug pressed her hands gently against his chest while Adrien wrapped his arms around her. The moment felt like it could last forever.

"Adrien, where are you?"

They both parted their lips from each other with a gasp and turned to see Adrien's photographer looking around for him, a blush was still fresh on both their cheeks, yet Adrien quickly made his way towards his photographer, shooting Ladybug one small glance before resuming the photo shoot.

All Ladybug did was stand there in utter awestruck of what just happened, she didn't know how to react to what just happened, it was filled with more emotions than she could count. Her mind was wiped clean of any words to process into a verbal reaction, the overwhelming amount of different emotions locked her words away from control. But she knew one emotion stood out more than the others.

And that was love.

It was the first time she kissed Adrien, her first kiss with him and it felt like heaven just as she imagined. Yet what she didn't imagine was him kissing Ladybug instead of Marinette, it made a grunt escape her mouth before she flung to the nearest building and eventually to home all without saying a word or giving a reaction to what just happened.

She landed on her balcony, undoing her transformation and going back into her room and standing in front of her mirror displaying no emotion. Either she was overwhelmed with too much emotion that it stopped her emotions from showing or she just couldn't react to it. Then her eyes trailed over towards the picture of Adrien, it was then that it all came crashing down on her.

"I kissed Adrien!?" She cried, tears pooling at the bottom of her eyelids as her hair stressed at the amount of pulling her hands were doing to it. "What was I thinking!?"

Tikki flew next to her with a deeply worried and sympathetic expression. She knew this would happen eventually, she sighed before she landed on Marinette's extremely tense shoulder.

"Look Marinette, you have to face the facts. This doesn't change anything." Tikki stated firmly, wanting Marinette to face the reality of this situation.

Marinette felt the cold sting in those words, yet the reality of it melted her brain. She knew it to be true, she would feel different when she was around him at school now, but she saw nothing else change besides what remained hidden. Adrien would feel different too if he were to encounter Ladybug again, next time if they were to meet again he would truly be lost for words to respond to his actions.

"You two will still behave the same way at school." Her kwami reminded, holding a serious expression.

Tikki was right, although hearts melted and their feelings for each other soared across the skies, there was no change. Everything would remain the same. Marinette would remain the clumsy shy girl she was at school, while fighting alongside Cat Noir as Ladybug, and Adrien would act kind and friendly around Marinette every time they were around. Marinette felt more than eager to tell Adrien that she was Ladybug and that she was the one that he loves.

But at the same time, she felt doubt weigh out the positives of that situation. Her image as Marinette was faded, she stood in the background trying her best to make herself be seen by Adrien all the time, almost always never jolting out a perfect clean sentence to him. And there she was, Marinette with the lips that had just touched Adrien's. It was something so unbelievable that Marinette was smacking and pinching herself just to see if she was dreaming.

She couldn't believe it, Marinette had just kissed the love of her life for the very first time.

Or so she thought.

After the photo shoot was wrapped up, Adrien had that kiss on his mind the entire time, throughout the shoot he struggled to maintain certain expression, he wanted to have a reaction to what happened earlier, but he needed to be alone to do that. So with his emotions fighting inside of him demanding escape and freedom, he remained relaxed against the seat of the limousine as he was driven back home.

He entered his bedroom in silence, with no Nathalie or Gabriel to welcome him home, although it was very common for his father not to welcome him home, his missed his own mother welcoming home, even if she had only just realised who she really was.

But Adrien was drawn too far away from his family's mishaps by the enchanted kiss, he remembered the sweet taste of her glossy lips as they crept across his lips. The touch of her hands on his chest made him feel in control as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a tighter embrace. It made Adrien sigh as a smile widened across his face, easily defining his cheekbones as he thought more and more of that one small moment that gave such and enormous impact on him.

Plagg flew out from where he had been hiding this whole time and saw the dreamy and entranced expression on Adrien's face as he laid down on the bed with his arms out. He knew that it was going to be very hard to take Adrien out of his trance; he knew all too well that Adrien had to think about this logically.

"Adrien, get a hold of yourself! This doesn't change anything!" The cat kwami exclaimed.

With his smiling lips loosened into a small frown of confusion, Adrien sat up with his hands balancing his upper body. "What do you mean?" He asked.

A pout formed on the kwami's little lips as his eyes narrowed at the clueless lover boy. Plagg could see that Adrien was so wound up in the kiss with Ladybug that he couldn't see the reality of the situation. He wanted to stop this kiss when he could see it from Adrien's bag that he was hiding in, but couldn't so he wouldn't be spotted by anyone. And why of all people did it have to be Ladybug hiding behind that tree? Plagg thought, cringing in annoyance at the thought.

"Think about it! How will things be around you as Cat Noir and Ladybug now?"

Adrien had other thoughts towards Plagg's exclamation; he didn't understand how the kiss wouldn't change anything between the two of them. As he thought about the scenario when he meets up with Ladybug next as Cat Noir, he could see himself and Ladybug...just doing the same thing they would usually do. Adrien shook his head in denial that the kiss didn't change anything, he tried to think about it being different but it didn't add up. He had to admit that Plagg had a point with this one, and he had been right for a while now, it was starting to get to him that his kwami was being right and getting great ideas all of a sudden.

He shot a glare at his kwami, annoyed that Plagg was frustrating him yet again. "Why are you so right about everything all of a sudden? You're not as willing to cheese now either, why do you care about my life all of a sudden?" He asked with a suspicious eye.

Plagg floated back a little in shock of that statement. "Excuse me? I love cheese and I always will! I'm just making sure you don't hurt yourself or reveal your identity for the sake of everyone!" Plagg cried, turning his head away, feeling insulted.

It was then he realised what his kwami was trying to explain, he sighed as he looked away with a regretful look on his face, he now felt terrible that he said that to Plagg after his kwami was only trying to help and protect him. He buried his face in his hands as he groaned, then looking back up and apologising to his kwami.

The next day, Marinette woke up to the sound of her phone buzzing off the desk, she and her kwami jumped out of bed and dashed to the phone. It was Alya; Marinette accepted the call and quickly looked at the time before responding, her eyes widened slightly as she realised how early it was.

"Alya? It's six thirty...what are you doing up so-"

"Marinette! You will not believe what someone just posted online!" Alya exclaimed, sounding serious as she cut Marinette off.

Marinette raised an eyebrow as she tilted her head slightly towards her computer, Tikki landed next to the mouse before the little kwami pressed on it to wake up the monitor. The navy haired teen sat down with one leg bent and the other hanging freely. She opened up the internet, still confused as to what Alya meant by something happening on the internet.

"Look, I know you really shouldn't see this...but I just have to tell you!" Alya cried, sounding a little more excited towards the end of her sentence.

Marinette shook her head; she had no literal idea as to what her best friend was going crazy about. She knew that Alya would only go crazy over stuff she would record of Ladybug and Cat Noir...and that's when it hit her.

The kiss...Marinette thought as her eyes widened.

It was then that Marinette found already posted on the Ladyblog by someone anonymous a photo of Adrien and Ladybug kissing slightly hidden by the trees. The phone that she had gripped tightly had now loosened and fell straight to the floor, causing Alya to call out to Marinette in a panic. Tikki shared a similar reaction, but unlike Marinette who was utterly speechless, she could give a verbal reaction to it.

"Who would photograph that?" She asked, floating closer towards the screen, squinting one eye in curiosity.

The sounds of a panicking Alya emitted from Marinette's phone as Marinette stared at the photo with shrunken pupils, her mouth opened with a gasp as one of her eyes began to twitch in fear. She felt so careless, how could she have been so blind? Marinette felt like she could collapse on her bed and stay there forever, there was no way she was going to school like this.

Tikki floated away from the monitor, tilting her head slightly in thought before thoughtfully picking up Marinette's phone and placing it on the desk with the speaker on.

"Marinette? I'm really sorry you had to see that...but you probably would have seen it eventually..." Alya admitted, with a sorrow tone in her voice. "But please still come to school; I'll be with you the entire time I promise." She assured.

Marinette was glad to have a very supporting friend like Alya by her side, she felt so much more protected with her around. It was the same relief feeling she would get when Chat would protect her in a fight.

It was then that Marinette realised who could've taken the photograph as she remembered why Adrien was at the park in the first place. She slammed her head against the desk, deeply regretful of her actions and wanting to do nothing but hide away forever. But, with Alya's encouraging words she decided to go to school anyway, in spite of all this happening.

"Oh no! He was in the middle of a photo shoot and one of his photographers must have snapped a picture of us!" Marinette cried as she looked at her kwami.

Tikki replied with a shocked expression printed all over her face. "That would explain everything!" She cried.

She started to wonder if Adrien had seen the photo yet, she wondered how he would react to it. It was no doubt that he would react in a similar way to how she reacted, it made her cringe in worry and guilt that it was entirely her fault for the kiss actually happening. Marinette fell into her bed in tears, deeply wanting to stay there forever but at the same time moved by Alya's encouraging words to actually come to school.

So for the next hour or so Marinette went over and over to herself how she would play out the day, sincerely hoping that Adrien was alright after this happening but her fears outweighed her hopes as she could only tell by looking at the photo once more how he was going to feel about seeing that posted on the internet.

Walking to school on her own, Marinette felt her heart beat out of her chest in deep anxiety. She knew very well that it was Ladybug he kissed and not Marinette, but she couldn't help but cover her face in slight embarrassment whenever someone looked at her, they raised an eyebrow in confusion as they walked past her. Marinette had a pink tint of blush spread across her cheeks all the way up until she saw Alya running towards her.

Alya embraced her best friend, deeply regretful and serious about showing Marinette that photo. She knew it would hurt Marinette but she would never keep a secret as big as this away from her own best friend. And telling Marinette straight away was the best option so she wouldn't be oblivious to it when they see Chloe extremely annoyed at Adrien.

"I'm sorry but I had to show you. It's for your own good." She said in a caring tone. "And don't worry; I won't talk about it if you don't want to." Alya assured, giving some much needed respect to Marinette.

The only thing that was on her mind was if Adrien had seen the photo yet, she could tell by Nino's loneliness and anxious waiting that Adrien hadn't arrived yet, and it was only a few minutes until the first bell for class would ring. It was then that she deducted that Adrien wasn't coming to school today because of that photo. Since Marinette was Ladybug at the time, to everyone else they saw absolutely no reason for Marinette to hide away from something like this.

But then, Adrien's limousine pulled up. Nino was the first to dash to the car as the door slowly opened.

"Adrien, what were you doing with Ladybug!?" He exclaimed, pulling out his phone to show the picture.

As Adrien closed the door, he turned to see the photo in full view. His emerald eyes widened in shock and his cheeks turned crimson in embarrassment as he felt the sting of many pairs of eyes staring at him, each pair displaying a similar reaction to his.

"Adrien Agreste! You vowed to be with me and only me!" A voice cried from inside the building, before the door was slammed open by Sabrina, revealing a furious and steaming Chloe.

Chloe made her way down to Adrien, stomping her way as all the other students watched the scene unfold in front of them, Marinette and Alya gave a worried and shocked expression towards the scene. Meanwhile Nino turned and stiffened in fear as he saw the scary blonde female angrily stomping her way towards him and Adrien.

Adrien felt his heart beat quicken in fear as he saw how furious Chloe was, he cringed a little as she was inches away from him before his already reddened cheek was met with a powerful slap from Chloe's hand. The blonde girl whipped her hair at him before she and Sabrina walked off.

Neither Marinette or Adrien were prepared for today's events.

 **Oh snap! Aha I think halfway through this chapter you saw that one coming eh? XD Oh well, we got a kiss people! A kiss! :D I think that will be enough to let you faint and recover until I post the next Chapter! XD So, not sure when next chapter will be since things are very tight like I mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, but I hope to get the next chapter up by the end of Thursday.**

 **See you all soon for Chapter 16! ^^**


	16. Sudden Panic

**Man, everything had just been all over the place for me for these past few days...a ton of work one day then just a little the next, then some other mishaps start up...life's busy you know? But I always try to make time to do things like continuing on with this story :) So anyways, left a bit of a bombshell last Chapter, but things are still heating up, there's a lot of stuff I have planned that you guys will definitely love me and hate me for (the hate is for when I make a cliffhanger XD). :D**

 **So, I heard the recent news (as of posting this Chapter) that the origins episodes will be airing next week, but I'm going to try and see how long I can go without seeing it until the French dub comes out, because to be honest I'd rather see the season finale in the French dub because for some reason I just like it that way *shrugs* Also to those of you who didn't know, I am serious, and for your own safety I'm not saying anything else on this and moving on with the chapter.**

 **Enjoy Chapter 16 of Revelations! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 16 – Sudden Panic**

Adrien had no idea what reaction he was supposed to be giving, but then he felt the rush of confusion as he looked around to see so many eyes staring at him, as well as Nino asking him a thousand questions at once.

"You love Ladybug!? How long have you been together? Why didn't you tell me? Why do you meet up secretly? Does Cat Noir know about this? Why did you-" Nino asked, before being cut off by Adrien.

The confused blonde teen raised a hand in indication that he wanted his friend to stop. "Hey, stop. I have no idea what's going on and I don't know who took that...photo..." He trailed off, realising it could more than likely have been his photographer. "Damn it, I should've known!" He said, mentally scolding himself for being so blind to his surroundings.

He didn't say anything about the topic after that, his expression remained tense and annoyed, Nino grew worried for his best friend and was extremely curious as to why Adrien was seen kissing Ladybug, he had no idea about any of this and he wanted to know more, but he could see that Adrien was in no mood to talk about it, so he kept it to himself.

Meanwhile, Alya had been keeping her distance close with Marinette for a majority of the school day so far, all in the meanwhile Marinette was constantly looking down at Adrien and could really tell that he was feeling the similar emotions that she was feeling at that moment, she wished she could talk to him, because it was she that Adrien kissed, and she felt like she should talk to him about it. But she knew that she'd only make Adrien more confused as to why she was involved, she wished there was a simple way around all of this, but now it only seemed that things were getting worse.

The class was half empty, neither Chloe or Sabrina were seen in sight, Adrien and Marinette knew the obvious reason why but sincerely hoped that they wouldn't be akumatised for something like this, but unlike Marinette, Adrien had his high doubts weigh that possibility down to an incredibly likely state. He sighed at the thought.

All during class, neither Marinette nor Adrien could properly focus on their work, they wanted to talk to each other, Marinette wanted to talk to Adrien while Adrien wanted to talk to Ladybug. Marinette didn't want to turn up as Ladybug again to risk anything, and now she grew worried that Adrien wouldn't like her alter ego anymore because of this incident, regardless of the fact that it wasn't her fault. Although she knew Adrien to always be nice, her fears overwhelmed what she had left of positive emotion and made her think that Adrien would not hate Ladybug because of that.

It made her tremble as a few tears escaped her eyes, she didn't want to lose Adrien this way, and she loved him. She shared a kiss with him that she'll never forget, she didn't want him to hate her over something like this, but her fear was giving her high confirmation that Adrien would blame her for everything and never see her again, regardless of the fact that it was their first official meeting.

The two remained silent for the rest of the class, pressuring themselves as hard as they could to not think about it and focus on their work, and their best friends could see the struggle in their expression. Nino and Alya wanted to help them but they didn't know how.

It wasn't long later that break had arrived, still not a word out of Adrien's mouth about the photo, both he and Nino went to their lockers while other students proceeded to theirs. While during this time, Marinette told Alya to give her a minute before she started to sulk to herself of the possibility of Adrien blaming her for the photo upload.

Tikki flew out from her purse, making suggestions on what to do as Marinette mumbled a few words underneath her breath. She sighed as she pat the top of Marinette's head in support, not liking to see Marinette like this, it made her feel guilty and upset also.

"Okay look, how about you don't see Adrien as Ladybug anymore? You could get to know more of him as Marinette." Tikki suggested with a small smile. "And remember, you're still Ladybug, with or without the costume."Marinette's kwami assured her, landing on the desk that Marinette was sulking on.

The navy haired teen sniffled before she looked up at her red and black polka dotted kwami, she sighed as she looked down back at the table where she had been sulking. "I know...but how do I make him see that! There's no point now anyway, he probably doesn't like Ladybug that way anymore after that's happened..." Marinette admitted, resting her chin in the palm of her hand as she felt more tears from her eyes emerging.

Marinette had more confidence in Adrien not liking Ladybug anymore, all she wanted to do then and now was to talk everything out with Adrien. She didn't like holding it all in to the point where it would explode. She would tell him everything on the spot, and give him a moment to recover from the shocking news before continuing on. But she feared things would take a wrong turn, she was in the deep end of struggling.

She looked over at Adrien who seemed to be mentally butchered by Nino's constant questions that he was too eager to ask, the only thing Adrien wanted was for all of this commotion to go away, he didn't want to remember his first kiss with Ladybug like this. With kind but slightly annoyed words, he excused his best friend to take a walk around the courtyard.

He wanted to think all of this through, there was a wide eyed expression printed on his face now that when he was either Cat Noir or himself he was doomed, people would come up to him either way to ask questions regarding the kiss. Adrien loved this kiss more than anything; he loved it just as much as him reuniting with his long lost mother. But now with this photo being talked about everywhere he felt like it was going to turn into a negative thought and he would have to forget about it.

That was when he thought about Ladybug, what would she think about it? He was glad she didn't know who he really was behind the mask, but it worried himself that Ladybug wouldn't be open to talk about something like that, and when he thought about it more in depth, he realised he wouldn't know what to say to Ladybug either, because unknown to her was that she actually kissed her partner in crime Cat Noir.

Adrien walked past Marinette who was waiting for Alya to return from the bathroom, he looked at her, then felt the sting of a thousand knives as he realised that she may have known about the photo too and was now even more upset than she was before. He hated that he hurt his friend, he knew that she liked him back but he didn't see Marinette that way the way he saw Ladybug. Thinking about those piercing thoughts Marinette was probably having, he decided to comfort her while Alya was absent.

"Hey Marinette..." Adrien spoke softly as he approached her.

The navy haired teen jumped in surprise of the sound of his voice, her eyes widened as her body stiffened, seeing the boy that she kissed from the day before. No expression was printed more finely than shyness, cheeks reddened as her eyes focused on his concerned face as he sat next to her.

She had no idea how to feel now that the guy that she had kissed was right next to him and he didn't even know that. She really wanted to tell him, but she wanted the timing to be right. Telling him in a place like this didn't seem right to her out in the open. Before she could say a word, he spoke up first.

"You've probably heard what's going on..." He said, trying to seem confident about it, but was struggling.

Looking up at Marinette for a response, he sighed as he ruffled his hair a little. Marinette silently nodded while her body remained stiff from the overwhelming ache of seeing the love of her life that she kissed sitting right next to her. The desperate need to tell him who she really was like a thousand knives piercing her skin.

Adrien looked back down, his expression moulded into a saddened one as he played around with his fingers. "I'm sorry you had to see that, I know how much that could have affected you..." He said sincerely, looking up at her with a sympathetic expression.

Marinette had little to no sadness about the situation as he assumed she did, she was in fact feeling the exact same emotions he was. She was sorry that he had to see that, she felt embarrassed, confused and annoyed. She was more like him than he thought, but unfortunately she remained silent about, too worried that if she spoke a word would slip out about her being the girl he kissed from yesterday.

There was a small moment of silence, Adrien patiently waited for a response, hoping that even though he knew how much this would have upset Marinette she would still respond. He was about to get up and leave when Marinette moved a little closer, feeling like she was taking a big risk.

"It did affect me...but not in the way you think."

She felt her heart pounding out of her chest; if Tikki could do anything she would be pulling Marinette out of this situation. She kept her eyes focused on Adrien's response, biting her lip anxiously in impatience.

Adrien lifted his head, confused and surprised Marinette was feeling this way. Although he did not know the full extent of how Marinette felt about certain things, he knew that when it came to him he could tell in her eyes that he meant a lot to her, in spite of seeing all those posters of him in her room, giving off a fan girlish vibe. He couldn't see any visible tears or redness in her face, only a normal everyday expression, showing some surprise to the situation but nothing else as Marinette fought hard to keep most of her emotions locked away.

"What do you mean?" He asked, straightening his posture as he turned his body towards her.

Her heart skipped a beat as she had quickly realised how she didn't see that question coming until it was asked to her, she thought quick and hard, not wanting to keep Adrien on his toes too long. She kept her eyes focused on the ground so she could think of a clear answer; however she could feel the sting of a pair of emerald eyes watching her, waiting for a response.

Marinette took in a deep breath, hoping she could say the right words without revealing anything to him. "I...I am upset about this...but n-not in the way you think." She began to explain, feeling her shy stuttering self coming back into play after its mysterious absence. "I'm more shocked and worried about you..." She admitted, looking away from his face as a tint of pink crept against her cheeks.

It now made more sense to Adrien, but he still couldn't understand why she wasn't as upset about it as he thought. He began to think more clearly about it and could see why she wasn't as upset as he had assumed. Adrien had already told her who he's in love with, and up until yesterday she had time to process that. While he was thinking, he had his eyes looking down in thought while in the corner of his eye he could see Marinette looking towards him slightly, seeming insecure as she had her arms across her chest.

"Oh..." He responded, relieved to see that she was alright, before he took into account the rest of what she said to him, making him adore how loving she was. "Thanks Marinette, I'm glad to have someone like you as a good friend." He complimented with a smile, before touching her hand accidentally, causing the two of them to jump and blush in embarrassment.

"Sorry..." Marinette said, ending with a slight giggle as the blush remained present on her cheeks.

Adrien scratched the back of his head nervously before he returned to his calmer state and looked at Marinette, it was uncanny that she and Ladybug shared the same sparkling eyes; they were almost like two spiralling worlds that turned into galaxies the further someone looked into them. Adrien lifted his smile more and gently wrapped his arms around Marinette, thankful to see there was someone here that was looking out for him.

"Thanks Marinette, I'm glad you're here for me. But don't worry, I'll feel better in time." He assured her while they were embraced.

Marinette remained frozen in place, the pounding of her heart was literally felt against Adrien's chest, he could tell how surprised she was by the sudden embrace, and he chuckled silently at the thought before he unwrapped his arms and looked at Marinette in the eyes one last time with an adoring smile.

"Thanks again." He said, before he got up from the bench and left.

The confidence within Marinette was beginning to grow she smiled in thought that her words sounded much clearer than before, and although she still stuttered around him, it wasn't as frequent for some reason, she felt like him knowing of her feelings had something to do with that. She kept this on her mind up until Alya returned, asking if she was alright.

Marinette nodded in reply with a small smile. "He did come up to me." She admitted.

Alya immediately grew tense and worried that something bad happened while she was in the bathroom, that was when she gripped Marinette's upper arms and gave a serious expression. "He didn't say anything bad to you, did he?" She asked, still having slight distrust in Adrien.

A small chuckle emitted from Marinette's mouth, seeming like it wasn't something to take seriously. "No, nothing like that, I assure you." She said, brushing Alya's firmly gripped hands off her arms. "He apologised to me about it, and I'm okay with it." She explained, before realising who she said the last part to.

"Wait what? You're okay with it? But you haven't said anything about it until now!" Alya exclaimed.

Marinette admitted that all morning she had been keeping it hidden inside because she didn't know how to feel about it since it was her that kissed Adrien in the photo but at the same time it wasn't her, she was slowly starting to feel more comfortable about it, however what she was really doing was keeping the worry, embarrassment and anxiety locked away until she had time to herself to let it all out. She had no choice but to remain positive, and seeing how happy she just made Adrien about being there for him made her feel more relaxed about the situation.

"I know, but I made him feel better about it. He even hugged me in thanks." She implied, gesturing over to Adrien who was now with Nino, causally talking to him.

Alya had so many burning questions her mind was going to explode; she was filled with confusion and excitement from Marinette's words. "He hugged you? What's his game?" She asked, crossing her arms before raising an eyebrow over at Adrien, thinking about the signals he was giving off to Marinette. "If he has feelings for Ladybug then why is he being so close to you?"

Marinette hadn't really thought about it until now, it was true that Adrien gave off mixed signals to her about him truly having feelings for her or not. But every time he said he saw her as a friend only made her think that he saw her as a really good friend. She did feel saddened about him considering her that way, but she also felt conflicted that he had feelings for her alter ego. However with all those negative emotions, she felt happy that she made him feel better about himself, it made her sigh in relief.

Not long later, the bell for class had rung. Everyone had proceeded to their lockers to grab their things for class, Marinette and Alya made their way to their lockers before something caught the corner of Marinette's eyes. She stopped in her tracks and turned, she saw a deep purple coloured butterfly flying about. Her instant thought was that Hawkmoth was back in action and someone was having extreme feelings of revenge and anger.

That was until she saw more of them follow behind, her lips parted in a gasp as she saw the swarm of butterflies fly through the school, and then eventually making their way to the locker rooms. Marinette panicked, feeling like they were coming straight for the first person to akumatise, regardless of their state of emotion. She knew that this was a very bad situation, and she had enough confirmation from the dark coloured appearance of the butterflies that they were indeed akumas, Marinette felt the rise of panic within her, she had to tell Alya about it as soon as possible.

Marinette rushed over to Alya, pulling at her arm in immediate attention. "Alya!" She cried. "Quick, we need to get everyone out of here!" She exclaimed in a whisper, as her friend showed no serious expression.

Her best friend chuckled as she continued to grab her books. "Hey I know there's a big test today but no need to make that big of a deal about it."

Just then Marinette saw the akumas fly into the locker room, no one seeming to take notice of the dark butterflies flying around and aiming themselves at the students. Marinette quickly pulled Alya down as she turned her head around the corner of the locker row to see that some of the akumas were already akumatising some of the students. This was not going to end well, Marinette thought.

"What's going on?" Alya asked.

Marinette turned back to her friend, holding a serious expression. "There's akumas everywhere! And we need to be extremely careful because it looks like they're going for anyone regardless of what emotional state they're in!" She exclaimed, before turning her head back to the scene again, waiting for a clear shot out the door.

Before she found an opening, she felt a tight grip on her wrist. Marinette turned to see that Alya had been akumatised and was now Lady Wi-Fi again. Marinette panicked, not wanting to get akumatised herself, she pushed her friend away and ran straight for the door, but tripped on her way there, then seeing an akuma heading straight for her.

"Marinette, look out!" A voice cried before they yanked her to her feet.

Marinette turned to see Adrien with her; he tightly gripped her hand before the two of them started to run away from the akuma infested locker room, seeing that there were way too many people being possessed by Hawkmoth all at once. Both Adrien and Marinette had to get to a safe place to transform and figure out exactly what was going on.

 **Okay I know it may not be a power that Hawkmoth possess, but let's just keep it canon in this story. I know he can akumatise more than one victim a day but I don't really think he can just release all his akumas to infect anyone. So, we're getting leg deep into this story! I feel some big things happening in these next few Chapters. Stay hyped for more around the episode 20 of MB release day (Sunday)! ;)**


	17. Hawkmoth's Lair

**Oh man is this story getting popular!? XD You have no idea how much motivation I have to writing this! I just don't have the time most of the time to write Chapters for this story...because of my graphic design course and my upload schedule on deviantart...but nonetheless I try to update this story twice a week for your entertainment. :)**

 **I did watch the most recent episode (episode 20) and I enjoyed it...could've been better here and there with more fluff but that's alright, now a reminder for those of you who are going to watch the origins episode, please don't give it away, I won't be seeing it for another month or so, so you'll have to hold back...I apologise ^^;**

 **So, last Chapter had a lot of stuff in it! What's going to happen next? Well read this Chapter to find out! :D**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 17 – Hawkmoth's Lair**

The two of them were still gripping each other's hand tightly, Adrien and Marinette had to split up so they could transform, but they wanted to make sure that the other person was out of harm's way first. They ran out the school and down the streets towards the park, it reminded Marinette of when this similar situation occurred where Adrien was holding her hand and running away from the gamer.

Marinette could feel her heart flutter with excitement but at the same time she was in a deep pit of worry and confusion as to what was going on with all these akumas. Adrien had the same thought with the akumas, but his top priority for the moment was to make sure his friend was safe. They made their way through the park before Marinette pointed over to her house.

Around the pair were normal people wondering exactly what was going on until a swarm of purple butterflies followed behind and akumatised anyone that was there. Adrien and Marinette turned, seeing that the fight wasn't going to be easy. Adrien dropped Marinette off at home and then dashed for the nearest hiding spot to transform. Plagg zipped out in a huge panic.

"What's going on with all these akumas?" Adrien cried, looking out slightly to see more people being akumatised. "I've never seen so many villains at once! Where does Hawkmoth get all these akumas from?"

Plagg couldn't respond, he was more willing to fight these akumas off because it was far too big of a deal for him not to care. "That doesn't matter, what we need now is Cat Noir and Ladybug to stop them!" He exclaimed.

The blonde teen nodded in determination, whipping his hand up as Plagg was sucked in and transformed Adrien into Cat Noir. From where he was, he leapt towards the nearest roof, which also happened to be the balcony of Marinette's house. He landed on the railing and looked at the terrible scene unfold in front of him. Chat was glad that now he wouldn't be akumatised due to his miraculous being active, he sincerely hoped Ladybug would show up, he didn't want to fight this alone.

That's when the thoughts of the kiss returned, within an instant his cheeks turned bright red as he thought about how he's going to act around Ladybug now that he kissed her, but as Adrien. All he knew was that Ladybug didn't know she kissed Cat Noir; he had to remain as he always would. So he took in a deep breath to calm him down, which was up until Ladybug appeared on the balcony beside him, ready to battle.

"Where did they all come from?" Was Ladybug's immediate question.

Chat felt the blush return as he took a small glimpse at Ladybug's glossy lips, he remembered the warm feeling of those lips pressed against his. He wanted to kiss them so badly, but knew that now was definitely not a good time. His thoughts returned to the situation at hand when an explosion was heard from down the street.

From their point of view, almost everyone in Paris was affected by Hawkmoth's akumas. The problem was that they had no idea what was Hawkmoth's game plan, and they wanted to know exactly what was going on. There was no way that they could fight all of these akumatised people without a good plan.

"What should we do?" Chat asked, looking towards Ladybug, his blushed cheeks still present, but thankfully Ladybug didn't take notice.

Ladybug decided not to talk about the kiss around Cat Noir, she figured he would be jealous of it and get caught up in his emotions and then the fight would be mostly one sided. She didn't want to lose Cat Noir as a friend; she needed his help as much as he needed hers. They were a team.

She took in a deep breath as she pressed a finger against her lips in thought before an idea came to mind. "I got it. We find where the akumas came from." She stated with a firm fist and determined expression.

"Huh?" Chat echoed, very confused by Ladybug's idea. "How can we find where they came from when they're everywhere?" He exclaimed, his arms gestured outwards to the ginormous scene of almost everyone in Paris akumatised.

Ladybug didn't reply, instead she looked at Chat with a determined smile and inched closer towards him, making Chat's heart race and his cheeks heat up before she reached for his staff. He quickly followed the idea and Ladybug wrapped her arm around Chat while he extended his baton all the way up into the sky until they had a good view of the city.

"We need to look for a place where more of the akumas are present, that way we'll get to-"

Before Ladybug could finish her sentence, someone from the ground had knocked Chat's staff and made the two topple backwards onto the roof of a building. Cat Noir grabbed his staff furiously as he saw two akumatised villains in front of him.

"You get away you wild cat! Ladybug is the one and only for me!" An identical looking Cat Noir said to Cat Noir.

Chat growled at the look alike and began to fight him with his baton, both of them using them as swords to fight. Meanwhile the other villain whipped her yoyo straight at Ladybug but she was able to dodge it in time and grab the string of Antibug's yoyo.

"There can be only one Ladybug, and that Ladybug is Antibug!" An akumatised Chloe announced, before she was flung off the roof by Ladybug.

Chat had done a similar move to the akumatised Theo, making him fly off the roof and down to the ground before he began to fight another akumatised victim he had fallen on top of.

The heroic duo watched from above, seeing that they needed to be far from this mess as possible so they could find the core of the problem and solve it from there. It was almost impossible to stop so many akumatised villains all at once. They were beginning to get an idea of what Hawkmoth's plan was, and they didn't like it one bit.

"Do you think this is Hawkmoth's final round?" Chat asked, holding his baton firmly in one hand.

"I think it is, but we need to find his lair and defeat Hawkmoth. That's the only way we can save Paris from all this destruction." She explained, looking down at her parents who were now akumatised, a worried expression printed across her face. "We need to act fast before all of Paris is destroyed." She stated firmly, before she swung to another roof with Chat following closely behind.

They continued to jump from roof to roof, and eventually they found their way to the top of the Eiffel tower where they could see everything without the aided assistance of Chat's staff. Chat looked on one side of the city while Ladybug looked on the other; it all looked almost the same. Akumas flying everywhere and infecting the first person they saw. They didn't know where all of the akumas could be coming from, but they both knew that if they didn't find the root of the problem, they would have to work their way down by fighting every single akumatised victim.

Neither of them was looking forward to that scenario unfolding, that's why the two of them avoided all the villains and only looked for the location of Hawkmoth's lair. The two met up in the middle of the top of the Eiffel tower, shrugging in certainty that neither of them could spot a place where the akumas could have all come from.

"Where do you think they'd be?" Chat asked, scratching his head, feeling lost but angered by all these akumas being released all at once.

Ladybug frowned in worry as she thought back to her classes in science where they studied animals. "Well, if I think back to..." She began to say before remembering she was Ladybug in front of Cat Noir. "They live in small groups, but by the looks of it Hawkmoth had them all stored somewhere with plenty of room and air. So we need to find a place that would be sealed off from anyone except Hawkmoth..." She explained while in deep thought.

Chat too thought deeply of where that kind of place could be, it was impossible to search from building to building to find a big room like that. He had to eliminate any ordinary looking places as he knew all too well that those rooms would be too small to fit in a large quantity of butterflies.

"It would have to be a giant room then, and it wouldn't be underground since butterflies need sunlight." Chat added, remembering his research from science on butterflies.

Ladybug nodded, glad to see that Chat knew something other than fighting, flirting and making puns, it made her smile subtly before she continued to think as she looked around all of Paris. She couldn't think of any place that would fit into that category. All around them were buildings that all looked the same, the two of them have travelled enough around Paris to know that almost all of these buildings don't have any sort of large room that could hold such a large quantity of butterflies.

"Wait a minute..." Ladybug trailed off, thinking back to their last fight.

She remembered it was at Adrien's house in Gabriel's office, she had no idea why Hawkmoth would be in such a place like that. "Hawkmoth was at the Agreste mansion last time we saw him, but why was he there?" She asked to Chat in a suspicious tone.

Cat Noir could tell that Ladybug was getting somewhere, but Chat hated to think that Hawkmoth's lair was near his own home, or worse inside his home. But he had to think like Ladybug in this situation, he didn't want his personal life interfering at a time like this. Unfortunately that's when it was made worse when Chat realised his mother could be akumatised again. He gasped at the thought, causing Ladybug to get distracted from her concentrated thinking.

"Chat? Do you have an idea?" She asked, hoping the gasp was in response to a place where the akumas could be.

"No..." He replied, looking down towards the mansion, sincerely worried that his mother was going to hurt his father. "We need to get down there!" He exclaimed, quickly grabbing Ladybug's hand before he jumped off the building, making his staff land the two of them safely on the ground, making Ladybug feel annoyed and insulted.

After all this time, Chat could land safely to the ground all on his own. What was his deal when it came to Ladybug safely landing the two of them down together? Ladybug thought. A pout of her lips formed while her arms crossed against her chest in annoyance.

"You could land yourself with your staff all this time? Was that an excuse to flirt?" She asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.

Chat was caught off guard with that sudden bring up of that topic, he felt the blush return slightly as he quickly thought of a response, biting his lower lip in the process before he turned to Ladybug. "N-no..." He stuttered, before returning his focus to why he made the two of them land in the front yard of the Agreste Mansion. "C'mon!" He said, before grabbing Ladybug's hand and hiding amongst the bushes.

Ladybug didn't have a single clue with what Chat's game was at, either he saw a fly on the wall or he was actually helping with what they were meant to be doing. However since Ladybug wasn't receiving a proper response from Chat she could only assume that it didn't have to do with finding Hawkmoth's Lair.

"I have to check on something, come with me." He requested, running over to his window while still holding onto Ladybug's wrist.

He felt Ladybug snap her wrist away with a scoff of frustration, he turned in confusion, before realising how much of what he was doing was explained to her and what they were actually supposed to be doing. "Chat, this is serious! We can't be snooping around someone else's place when we're supposed to be doing something else!" She exclaimed, gesturing towards the gates to where off in the distance were several akumatised victims and many akumas flying around.

Chat smacked his hand against his forehead before he continued on in, gesturing to Ladybug to come on in. However, while he was gesturing he felt a tight grip on his hand and ultimately assumed it was an akumatised victim because of how strong the grip was. But when he heard a harsh whisper of Ladybug's voice, he relaxed himself slightly.

"Will you quit doing things and tell me what you're doing? Are we actually finding the lair or are we snooping around your friend's house?" Ladybug asked, getting more and more frustrated by the second.

"Just follow me in and I'll explain what I can."

Ladybug's face reddened in anger and frustration, she just wished Chat would tell her exactly what he was doing half the time, it really frustrated her that he would sometimes get like this and not tell her anything about what he was doing until it was too late. She wanted to be there for him, but she didn't know how when he didn't tell her exactly what was going on.

So she followed on in to Adrien's room, and was surprised to see that Adrien wasn't around. This caused her heart to race in a panic as she worried that he may have been akumatised too. She knew there was nothing she could do about it now but the thought of it made her eyelids flood with tears of worry. Chat could see the trembling in Ladybug's expression; her lips trembled while the tears remained around the outline of her blue eyes. He knew exactly why she was worried.

"Don't worry, Adrien's fine. I actually ran into him when I went looking for you. I took him to a safe place." He assured her, resting his hands on her shoulders in assurance as he smiled slightly.

This made Ladybug calm down but then return to exactly what was going on in that moment, and made her shove Chat's arms off and growl at him. "Can you please tell me exactly what we're doing in his room? This better not be a joke, because it is definitely the wrong time to be making jokes round about now!" She warned, pointing a finger at the black cat.

Chat raised his arms in defence, indicating that he was ready to explain. So Ladybug removed her pointed finger away from his face and placed it firmly against her hip the same way the other hand was while she waited for Chat's explanation, tapping her foot impatiently in the process.

"You remember that woman right?" He asked, trying to seem like he didn't know his own mother.

With no verbal response, Ladybug simply nodded in reply, meaning that she wanted the full extent of Chat's explanation.

"Well, she could be akumatised again and possibly after Adrien! We need to stop her." He implied, tightening his fist firmly.

Nothing but an annoyed sigh came out of Ladybug's mouth; she pointed a finger at the cat yet again in annoyance. "Look, we need to find where all these akumas are coming from. And as much as I'd like to protect Adrien, I can't right now because you told me he was safe, and we need to find the root of the problem!" She explained, her words sounding more serious and annoyed as she clenched her fists.

With a saddened sigh, Chat agreed. Then the two of them proceeded to climb back out of the window when suddenly, a swarm of akumas flew from above the roof of the mansion. This caused the pair to quickly leap up to the top of the mansion and look around.

"We must be getting closer; those akumas looked like they had just begun flight." Ladybug stated, with her hand shading the sun from her eyes as she looked around.

Chat nodded in agreement. "Yeah those akumas looked to slow when we first saw them but now they're gaining speed." He added.

Then suddenly, the sky darkened. Storm clouds appeared and lightning began to strike every high point in Paris, starting with the Eiffel tower and then the mansion right next to it. This caused the dup to quickly part at the purple lightning zapped in between where they were just standing. Ladybug landed just outside the gate of the mansion while Chat landed within the gates and was amongst the trees and bushes.

Meanwhile Ladybug was being attacked by a swarm of pigeons and wanted to get rid of them so she could see where she was going and find Hawkmoth's lair. She spun her yoyo around to frighten the birds enough so they would fly around her further and she could see where she was.

Eventually Ladybug was able to break free of the pigeons swirling around her, she flung her yoyo up and landed within the gates of the mansion, landing safely and hearing a certain cat sneeze.

"Why did it have to be feathers that I'm allergic to?" Chat asked, not seeking an answer before he sneezed again.

Above the pair was a large window with a small opening, they looked up and as soon as they looked up some more akumas came flying out.

"No...It can't be..." Chat cried in a whisper, they came from his own house.

The root of all their times fighting akumas was under the roof of his own house. He didn't want to believe it, but when he saw more akumas fly out he had to face the facts. Hawkmoth's lair was in the Agreste mansion.

But who could be in there?

 **Is that a cliffhanger? Yeah may as well be since I make lots of those with this story XD So next Chapter we get to the root of the problem! But does it get fixed? Or does it get worse? Oh boy I'm excited to write the next Chapter! Real big stuff's about to happen and you're gonna love it! :D**

 **Next Chapter around Wednesday/Thursday. See you then! ^^**


	18. It Begins

**Okay I will admit to myself that I have seen some info and images/gifs regarding the origin episode (2** **nd** **one's not yet apparently) so I know a few things about what happens but I'm not gonna say for the sake of you guys in case any of you have chosen not to see it yet. Also, with the release of the French ones in just four days, I'm going to try my hardest to spread them out...so basically watch a new one once a week, or twice if I can't handle it. It's just so to me the 1** **st** **season seems longer and worth waiting for ;)**

 **I do suggest you guys do the same, but I bet some of you didn't even know until I just said so...so some of you might be leaving this chapter to go watch the new French episodes...But I'm just saying if you don't want the season to be over for you just yet, try to wait out the episodes and pick a certain day to watch one and then maybe 5 days or a week later or something.**

 **Enough talk about episodes, I can really feel the build up I've been putting on this story, I'm super psyched to write this Chapter, Enjoy Chapter 18 of Revelations! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 18 – It Begins**

All that Chat wanted to do in that moment was constantly deny out loud that he was living under his archenemy this entire time he had been fighting off the akumas. But with the scene around him and Ladybug right to him he couldn't say anything, only the expression on his face could tell exactly how he felt about this. He couldn't tell Ladybug or anyone that it was his own home that the akumas had been hiding with Hawkmoth, Chat felt extremely eager to tell Ladybug exactly who he really was, but felt like it was definitely not the right time.

When would be a right time? He thought. Since the kiss happened from yesterday he hadn't been thinking of a right time to tell her everything. He really wished he could, but with the extremely important situation at hand, it was more than recommended that he doesn't say anything about this until sometime afterwards.

But then he remembered Ladybug's words...'No one must know, not even us.' She never gave him a good time for her to be open and ready to know about it, he thought of the possibility of knowing her without the masks several times, but he couldn't see any other girl he knew that had the exact same personality as Ladybug. The only one that came remotely close was Marinette, but there could be many girls that look similar to Marinette and have those personality traits of Ladybug. He had to be open minded about this; he didn't want to make the wrong assumption.

Then, Ladybug interrupted Chat's thinking with words he didn't want to hear.

"We need to get up there, there's no doubt that this is where Hawkmoth's been hiding all this time." Ladybug informed, before remembering the owners of the mansion.

This was the Agreste mansion, Adrien lived here. All this time the akumas had been under the same roof as her crush. It was a lot to take in; she couldn't believe that her archenemy Hawkmoth had his lair in the Agreste Mansion all this time. But then again, it did make sense the more she thought about it, linking it to their last encounter.

Hawkmoth was right there in Gabriel's office, with a woman who was presumably Adrien's long lost mother. It made sense now that his lair was here; there was no way unless he had teleportation or superhuman speed to get from his lair all the way to the mansion.

Hiding the hesitation and strong feeling of wanting to say something that could lead to the reveal of his secret identity, Chat obliged, giving a nod in determination as he clenched his fists with his baton in one hand. Ladybug continued to spin her yoyo on her side with caution as the pair darted for the double doors, before suddenly, they were pulled back and blocked off.

They both saw the blue rectangular transparent wall around the size of the double doors blocking their path, and then a sudden yank of a string caused the two of them to collapse and land face fist into the concrete, hurting their faces.

Before either of them was able to get back up to their feet in time, they were blasted with a shocking riff from guitar villain, which made it increasingly difficult for them to get back up to their feet faster. They both grew tired of this and decided to forget about standing up and fight in the position they were in. Chat waved his baton wide enough to protect the both of them while Ladybug attacked an akumatised Chloe who was on the roof above them.

"We can't fight like this forever!" Ladybug exclaimed after many minutes of defending themselves.

Chat pressed his lips firmly as he narrowed his eyebrows beneath his mask, he decided to make a lunge for it, but when he did, he could feel his allergies kick in once again as flocks of birds began to swarm all over the place. Ladybug ran towards her partner with her yoyo spinning around to protect her. She didn't want to use her lucky charm, she didn't know if it worked on more than just one akumatised person. This was a situation she had never been in before.

"What are we going to do?" Chat asked, before sneezing again as he tried to fight back.

Ladybug looked around while fending off the several akumatised victims in front of them, she didn't want to go into the Agreste Mansion and risk these guys following in afterwards. She didn't want to be the cause of destruction to Adrien's own home, but yet if it was to stop Hawkmoth she had to take that risk.

"Follow me." Ladybug requested, starting to step backwards towards the door entrance.

She whipped out her yoyo at the akumatised Nathanael which made him fall to the floor and angrily draw another object which made the barricade of the door disappear, Ladybug smirked as her idea worked, before she felt a yoyo wrapped around her hand, she used it to her advantage, the akumatised Chloe was spun around along with several pigeons and the pigeon man until they were flung out of site.

The two of them rushed to the door and quickly closed it as soon as they were inside. Before either of them got a good look of the ginormous room, there was an eerie calm, and then the slash of a whip was heard in front of them. Nathalie was standing in plain sight in her akumatised form ready to attack.

Chat didn't want to do this again, he hated that he had to fight his own mother, even when she knew who he was underneath the mask. It pained him to hurt someone he genuinely cares about. But, he carried on like he did before, dodging her attacks and not fighting back.

Meanwhile all that Ladybug wanted to do was find a way all the way to the top of the mansion to where all the akumas were hiding as well as Hawkmoth. She remembered that upstairs on the right led to Gabriel's office and a few other rooms, so her only bet was to try out every single room until she found something.

She looked at her partner; she could see the regretful pain in his eyes as he defended the woman. Ladybug knew that now wasn't the time for this, so she spun out her yoyo and wrapped it around Nathalie, then spinning her into the nearest open door, the door slamming shut the moment she was inside and Ladybug's string retracted.

"Thanks Ladybug, but try and be more careful with how much force you put on people." He implied, worried that Ladybug may have hurt his mother slightly.

Ladybug smirked in confidence. "It's fine Chat, besides we have more important things to do." She said, gesturing towards the stairs.

Chat ran up the stairs first, knowing the place very well he knew where some of these rooms led to, but wanting to keep his knowledge of the mansion to a minimum for his identity sake, he decided to check all the rooms with Ladybug, in spite of him knowing some of the rooms already.

"There's got to be a way up there, a secret passageway or some sort of hidden elevator..." Ladybug explained, checking in the first room for any hidden panels or switches while Chat leaned against the door of the frame.

He had to admit he never came across any secret passageways or hidden buttons before, and aside from the fact that he didn't go in this room often he knew this room had no way of reaching to the top. He shook his head in disbelief while Ladybug had her head turned, but then, he face palmed in sudden remembrance of a possible way.

"Wait Ladybug, maybe we should check over there." Chat implied, catching Ladybug's attention and pointing down towards the hall. "I feel like there's a way over there." He added.

Ladybug furrowed her eyebrow, looking out towards the hall and down the hallway, seeing that it continues beyond her eyesight. She decided to follow Chat's presumed instincts and follow him down the hall until they saw another set of stairs that trailed upwards.

How big is this place? Ladybug thought to herself as she pressed her hands against her waist. Chat turned to her and gestured for her to go first. She was surprised that even after all that happened with the kiss with Adrien and the possible revelation as well as Chat's love confession, the two of them still acted the same way in front of each other. This was further confirmed when Chat bowed slightly with a small grin.

"Ladies first."

She giggled silently in response, her fingertips slightly brushing against her lips while doing so before she quickly ran up the stairs with Chat following closely behind.

What was revealed upstairs was a whole new part of the mansion that she hadn't seen the last time she was here, but she had to admit she had only been inside the mansion that weekend, she had never seen the inside before so she was still getting used to it.

Her eyes widened in surprise before she watched Chat walk on ahead with his baton still in hand as he looked around, she was starting to get curious as to why Chat knew so much about this place, but then she remembered that Chat was a friend of Adrien's and probably has been around here before. She face palmed in embarrassment and the sudden realisation that she could've asked him from the beginning to get a lead on where the way to Hawkmoth's lair was.

Chat opened the far door on the left that revealed a small office room, possibly for a workmate of Gabriel or a place to store some office equipment as the room looked a little cluttered, but there was a path to the computer on the desk at least.

As they walked further into the room, a large explosion of a wall crashing down disturbed the two, making them dart towards the railing and look down. There were heaps of akumatised civilians that had broken a wall down just to get in, before Chat and Ladybug could fully react, a cackle of laughter echoed throughout the room, sounding a lot like Hawkmoth.

Ladybug and Cat Noir readied their stances in case of a sudden face off, but nothing else happened aside from the continuous echo of Hawkmoth's laugh around the room as the akumatised civilians looked around the room also in confusion.

It wasn't long later that Hawkmoth started to speak, and then a bright flash of purple/pink light began to appear in front of all the akumatised victims. Hawkmoth revealed himself as he kept his hands hidden behind him with an evil grin.

"How will you stop me now Ladybug? I have an army and all you have is a feral cat." He teased, laughing a little more towards the end.

Chat gripped his staff tightly; his lips curled into an intense frown from insult, his eyes twitched in anger, wanting to slash at the man, but knew that it was not going to help in any way possible. So, he turned to Ladybug, who shared a similar angered expression to his.

"You won't get away with this Hawkmoth!" Ladybug declared, mentally shaking a fist at him.

Hawkmoth lowered his head, giving a cunning and evil expression as he kept his eyes focused upwards towards the two heroes. Then he turned his head slightly to his pawns behind them, smiling in the process.

"Bring me their miraculous. All of you now!" He demanded, pointing his staff towards the pair.

Ladybug and Cat Noir gasped in the sudden rush of panic and quick thinking needing to be applied as soon as possible, they both jumped opposite directions when they heard the swipe of a phone and a big purple/pink pause button appeared stuck to the wall that was behind the two of them.

Chat landed himself on the railings of the stairs that lead towards downstairs, waving his baton in a circular motion before he couldn't defend himself any longer. Meanwhile Ladybug had landed on a large piece of the infrastructural design, whacking her yoyo towards Lady Wi-Fi's phone to try and crack it. In all the meanwhile all the akumatised villains who were within the mansion began to fight and make their way towards Ladybug and Cat Noir's locations.

The black cat landed on the stairs on all fours, before quickly having to draw his baton like it was a sword as he fought the dark knight and the mime at the same time, splitting his baton in half so he could fight the two easier. Ladybug was in a similar position, swinging her yoyo around constantly to fend off the attacks from several akumatised villains.

It was impossible, there was no way both she and Chat could defeat so many akumatised victims all at once, especially now that Hawkmoth was in the same room as well, and although neither teen hero knew the full extent of Hawkmoth's powers, they still knew that purifying this many akumas in one room just seemed more and more impossible.

Ladybug almost didn't take notice of the cool breath against her ears, before she felt a small tug of her earring and quickly kicked the invisible girl to the side, making Sabrina grunt in pain and frustration of how close she was. She wanted to help Chat but since now the akumatised version of Theo was here also she didn't know which one was which.

The fights were getting too out of hand, and both teens could see Hawkmoth standing in the middle of all it smiling proudly as he rested his hands on his supporting staff. Ladybug felt like she had no choice, she couldn't keep fighting these guys off forever. It was easy beating just one at a time, but trying to defeat them all in one hit seemed to be extremely impossible after the more blows Ladybug took.

"Lucky Charm!"

Chat quickly turned his head to realise that already Ladybug was using her lucky charm when she was only knee deep into fighting. Chat had a hard time himself trying to fend off so many akumatised victims while at the same time avoiding to become a part of their power, he felt it was really unfair that an akumatised Juleka and Kim were fighting him. It made it more difficult for him to stay on his feet to think for just a second of how to defeat them all in one blow.

Ladybug's lucky charm had turned into one of the last things she was expecting, with the sparkling and forming of the lucky charm, it appeared and dropped carefully into her hands, with her raising an eyebrow before groaning.

"How is this going to help me?!" She cried, waving a red and black spotted baton that looked identical to Chat's.

The black cat turned in response of hearing how annoyed Ladybug sounded, her quickly saw what was in her hand, he laughed internally at how stupid of a lucky charm that was, but did think it would come to good use. He continued to fend off the akumatised victim's attacks, dodging Kim's arrows and Juleka's reflection power.

Ladybug used a powerful spin attack to make all the akumatised victims fall back a few feet. She took this opportunity to look for a way to use this. She looked around, and looked directly at Hawkmoth's cane before looking back at the baton in her hand. She knew exactly what to do and hoped that it would work. So while Hawkmoth looked over at Chat struggling to fend off the villains for a moment, Ladybug ran up to him, defending herself with both the yoyo and the black and red baton before she whacked Hawkmoth's supportive staff and snapped it in two, causing it to drop to the ground and anger Hawkmoth deeply as he growled at Ladybug.

"You'll pay for this! Grab her!" He demanded in a loud tone, prompting all the infected civilians to run towards Ladybug and grab her.

She tried all that she could to fend off them all, but could hear already that her earrings were wearing off, she had to leave to let Tikki recover and then get straight back into battle, but now she was surrounded by several akumatised versions of people she knew and people she didn't know.

"Ladybug!" Chat cried, glaring at Hawkmoth before he decided to use his ultimate weapon. "Cataclysm!" He shouted, prompting the magic inside his ring to form the blackness around his right hand.

Chat ran towards everyone else with his hand raised high, he could see a few akumatised victims heading straight for him, but he ducked and then used the cataclysm on the ground, making it shake and rumble before the floor cracked beneath them, Ladybug used her yoyo to leap herself to a higher ground while most of the akumatised villains didn't know what to do until they fell through and weren't able to fight anymore.

Hawkmoth growled, relieved that he wasn't caught underneath that. But then he heard the familiar sound of a ring beeping. He knew exactly how this was going to go down, and he knew now that this was the battle he would win. He could feel it.

"You're running out of time and you have nowhere to go." Hawkmoth implied, grinning evilly towards the pair.

Even though they both wanted Hawkmoth to be wrong, he was nowhere close to being wrong about his statement. Ladybug's earrings beeped again, giving her another warning. She covered her ear and cringer in worry, Chat doing a similar expression too.

This was bad; they were both trapped in the Agreste mansion with their true identity's about to become a reality, and right in front of their archenemy. They didn't know what to do, but standing around sure wasn't one of them.

 **Okay sorry I gotta end it there because I left this Chapter too late at night and now I am dead tired...my eyes were literally trying to stay open while I was writing this, you're lucky I was able to upload this now instead of you guys waiting an extra 10 hours for the Chapter.**

 **So I plan for this to be the big fight but for now I'm not really sure, also I apologise for the subtle fluff, there will be more coming soon. See you Sunday/Monday for Chapter 19! :D**


	19. No More Beeps

**OMG I saw Episode 22 and just...everything about it is amazing! I haven't seen the origin episodes yet but man have I seen some pretty intense spoilers everywhere! I can't wait to watch them! Hmm…I guess with episode 22 I was a little off with the Ladrien interaction but oh well that was before the episode aired so it doesn't matter. :)**

 **If you do ask again, I haven't seen the last two episodes, so don't post any reviews containing facts from those episodes just yet. I've just seen enough spoilers from those episodes to get the basis of what's going on. I'll let you know when it's safe to do so ^^**

 **On a side note, I'd like to point out that this story will be dubbed and posted on YouTube sometime in the near future. And I was thinking of doing a little cover contest. More info on that at the end of the Chapter. ;)**

 **So enjoy Chapter 19 of Revelations!**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 19 – No More Beeps**

Ladybug and Cat Noir had less than five minutes before it would all come toppling down on them, they didn't know what to do. They didn't know whether they should look when their transformations wear off or fight blind. But they both knew that they would fight to the very end just to save Paris.

"We can't stop now Chat, we'll fight to the end!" She declared, whipping out her yoyo and flying up towards the ceiling, landing safely on the railing.

Chat nodded as he narrowed his eyebrows at the scene displayed in front of him, he quickly whacked his stick against the villains who were closest to him and extended it up to where Ladybug was. Then a growl of pure anger echoed through the room.

"Don't let them get away!" Hawkmoth cried.

The pair had a very slim amount of time to work things out, so they stood facing each other, both with worried and scared looks as Ladybug's earrings beeped again.

"What can we do? We can't keep fighting..." Chat cried, before his ring beeped again, showing that he had three minutes left.

"I know, but I have an idea." Ladybug assured, looking up showing determination in her face.

Chat grew confused when Ladybug didn't speak a word after that, instead she jumped off the highest floor and swung herself to hit as many people as possible at once. She landed on the ground on the opposite side of where Hawkmoth was, she kept her eyes peeled on him while also protecting herself with her yoyo. She took a glance at the confused cat who had now gotten the idea, but grew worried thinking about him and Ladybug being so close to reveal their identities.

So he extended his stick and spun it above his head to land safely on the ground, not long before he was tackled but then he managed to use his staff and fighting skills to shove them all away. Meanwhile Hawkmoth was getting extremely frustrated not having his akumatised victims do anything right for him; he decided to make a run for it straight towards Ladybug, his arm reaching outwards as he ran.

Ladybug and Cat Noir looked at each other with a smirk and a nod before they managed to pin Hawkmoth to the ground using their enhanced strength. But then, Ladybug's earrings went off again, she cringed in deep worry as Chat looked at her showing the same expression not long before his ring beeped again.

Hawkmoth laughed mockingly, seeing that the two's identities were about to be revealed to each other. He had some thoughts to who Cat Noir might be, but finding out who Ladybug really was under the mask was going to be the more surprising he hoped.

"You can't hold me down forever. Soon your miraculous will wear off and you'll be defenceless!" Hawkmoth stated, laughing evilly.

They both knew he was right, but Ladybug wasn't about to give up yet. She still had less than two minutes and she knew now that wherever she released Tikki would have to be in the mansion, same to Cat Noir too about Plagg. So she done the only thing she could think of in a flash, she used her legs to kick Hawkmoth all the way towards the wall. It was then that she ordered her partner to flee and find a safe place to de-transform.

Chat ran up the stairs while Ladybug swung herself to the topmost section of the mansion, and starting to run into one of the rooms while Chat done the same on the second floor. But suddenly, guitar villain emitted a seismic wave that caused the pair to become very unbalanced, they both held onto the railing for balance, but then they could see Rodgercop pointing his guns straight at them, they both managed to move in time but Ladybug had fell to the second floor, toppling onto Chat.

With no time for jokes, he quickly lifted Ladybug up and ran into the closest room to them still holding her hand. He slammed the door shut behind them then turned to see a very worried Ladybug.

"Chat...I didn't want this to happen yet...now is not the right time for this to be happening..." She explained with a sigh, before her earrings beeped telling her she had less than a minute left. She covered her ear as she closed her eyes slowly, she didn't know what to think.

"I know, but if I go back out there...there's no way I'd be able to get to a place in time to save my identity." Chat said before his ring beeped, giving the same warning with less than a minute left.

He tightened his hand against Ladybug's, showing his love and affection for her, and how serious he was about the situation, he could feel Ladybug's hand tighten around his. It was the same tight grip that Ladybug gave him when he was at the park as Adrien.

It felt like this was it; they were going to find out. It was all silent; Ladybug's blue sparkling eyes met Cat Noir's emerald green eyes. Nothing but staring and then Ladybug closed her eyes thoughtfully, sincerely hoping that Chat would understand why she closed them.

He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, he would not peek, and he trusted Ladybug enough that she wouldn't look either. He was going to leave the room and keep his eyes shut, he would lead Ladybug out of the room and into another room safely, all doing with his eyes closed. Chat knew the place well enough to know where everything was, it wasn't going to be difficult. He only hoped that they wouldn't be attacked the moment he opened the door.

But then tragedy struck, the door slammed open and crashed onto the ground, standing there was Hawkmoth and behind him were his most strongest akumatised victims: Rodgercop, Antibug, guitar villain, Evillustrator, Theo as Cat Noir and Lady Wifi.

Ladybug and Chat quickly turned with a gasp, both in their heads shrieking 'no' as their eyes widened at the sudden reality and the sudden change in severity of the situation. Although they hadn't changed back yet they still refused to look at each other just in case if they were to change while one was looking at the other.

Evillustrator had created a transparent cube around them while Antibug wrapped her yoyo around the cube and pulled it through the door, all in which Hawkmoth watched in pleasure as he saw the two helpless superheroes doing nothing to get out of it.

They had no choice; they couldn't keep fighting when their identities were less than a minute away from being revealed. Neither of them knew what to think anymore, all they did was hold each other in arms with their eyes tightly closed.

Then Theo as Cat Noir used his staff to fling the cube off the railing and down towards the ground where the cube smashed and disappeared and then Lady Wi-Fi pinned their hands to the ground.

Ladybug and Cat Noir were in defeat, they had tried all they could to stop Hawkmoth but his army was too much for them. Their identities were going to be revealed and they couldn't do anything about it, their miraculous was going to be taken and Hawkmoth would grow more powerful than before.

"Grab their miraculous...now!"

And then it happened, Ladybug's earrings beeped again and with a flash of pink light her costume vanished to reveal the sweet innocent Marinette underneath. Tikki saw the scene presented before them, she panicked and quickly took the earrings off Marinette and flew away, quickly dodging any attacks that were aimed at her. ( **A/N I don't know if they can take the miraculous off themselves, but let's keep it canon in this story.)**

Hawkmoth growled as he saw the kwami fly towards the open doors. "Chase after it!" He demanded, forcing several of his victims to run out the door and chase after her.

Cat Noir closed his eyes tighter, he turned away. He didn't want to see Ladybug in her civilian form unless he had no other choice, he didn't want to break her promise. There was silence across the room, all the akumatised victims shared the same expression of hate like they always did, indicating that Ladybug's de-transformation had no effect on them. But Hawkmoth ordered them to stop for a moment so he could analyse who Ladybug really was.

"Who are you, girl?" He asked, approaching Marinette, who still had her eyes tightly closed; not wanting to see exactly what was going on. "Open your eyes!" He demanded.

Right after he said that, Chat's ring beeped and Plagg flew out of the ring and hit himself against the wall, he collapsed in exhaustion, but then looked up to see Adrien with Ladybug's civilian form and Hawkmoth right next to him, he panicked and just like Tikki did, he quickly went for the ring.

"So...my suspicions were true." Hawkmoth whispered loudly to himself as he looked over at Adrien.

Plagg gasped as he looked up at the villain, he yelped as he tried to get the ring off of Adrien's finger, but then he felt a tight grip around his body. He looked up and saw the smiling Hawkmoth down at him before he pulled the ring off Adrien's finger with ease.

Marinette kept her eyes closed; she felt her ears feeling lighter and emptier...like they were before she had the miraculous. It was then that she realised Tikki sought out to protect the miraculous against Hawkmoth while she was down. She felt a small smile of gratitude towards Tikki form across her lips, but then she heard Hawkmoth's voice again a little way's distance from her.

"I knew that ring was your miraculous from the first time I made the connection." Hawkmoth said, lifting Adrien's chin up.

Adrien still refused to open his eyes, he knew his miraculous was gone and in the possession of Hawkmoth as well as Plagg, he didn't know what to do. He held back his tears for as long as he could while he could feel Hawkmoth's presence inches away from his face. His heart started to race in fear, he had never felt so scared and worried in all his life. Everything would change once he opened his eyes and saw who Ladybug truly was. Yet he felt Hawkmoths words trying to draw a line in his mind, his words felt all too familiar to him, and his voice began to sound more like someone he knew closely.

But he kept his eyes shut, not wanting to see the reality of the situation.

Marinette feared the same, she didn't want to open her eyes either, she promised herself that she wouldn't look unless it was the only thing she could do. She could feel her eyes water, tears escaping from her closed eyelids, she felt like it was the end of it all, but yet she still had a little hope that somehow she would get out of this, find Tikki and save the day. But she didn't have a single clue of how that was going to happen when now Hawkmoth knew exactly who they were and with akumatised victims surrounding them.

"After all this time...my son has been working with Ladybug behind my back."

Marinette tried not to listen, but the words pierced her skin, she didn't want to believe it to be true, but somehow whoever Chat really was, Hawkmoth was able to confirm him as his own son.

Adrien felt his heart stop for a complete moment, there was no way...he didn't want to believe it. Underneath his eyelids his pupils shrunk in shock, he began to breathe heavily as he tried to avoid Hawkmoth's words.

"Open your eyes!" Hawkmoth demanded.

Neither teen accepted the reality to open their eyes and see who each other really were. All that Hawkmoth could see was his own son and a girl who he felt like he has met somewhere before. He stood up from kneeling in front of Adrien and moved his way towards the akumatised victims.

"This is none of your concern now, you can leave!" He shouted, using the power of his own miraculous to force everyone to leave.

As they all left, Lady Wi-Fi kept the locks on Marinette's and Adrien's hands, the two of them were now alone with Hawkmoth. Marinette had no one to whisper to, Tikki left in a hurry to protect the miraculous from Hawkmoth; meanwhile Plagg was unlucky to have been caught by Hawkmoth and now the ring in his possession.

He turned back towards the teens, he looked at the navy haired teen more closely, he approached her slowly, analysing her as he approached her face. He only needed those eyes to see who she really was.

"Look up at me girl!" He demanded, grabbing Marinette's chin tightly, causing her to yelp in pain as her tears became too much.

"Don't touch her!" Adrien demanded, still his eyes glued shut as he could hear everything that was going on.

Hawkmoth ignored his son, focusing his attention back to Marinette. It was then that his patience grew too thin and he kicked Marinette in the chest, causing her to collapse. Adrien screamed in pain as he could hear the love of his life getting hurt without him protecting her. His emerald eyes sprung open, quickly turning to Hawkmoth and a girl fallen on her back, she sat up slowly, her face being revealed to Adrien.

His heart stopped, his eyes widened, everything in his body stopped just for that moment of realisation. It was her; the love of his life was the one he saw every day at school. He should've known...but deep down he felt like he always knew.

Adrien refused to say anything, as much as he wanted to call out her name he knew it would only bring more bad luck to the situation.

Marinette's eyes opened suddenly, the pain making it too much for her to not see the extent of the damage. The first thing she saw was her legs numb on the ground, her hands locked, and a dark figure standing in front of her, his blue glowing eyes staring at her in pure anger. Her heart beat quickened in panic, there she was...without her miraculous in front of her arch enemy who was towering over her.

She knew that Chat was beside her, she didn't know if he saw who she really was or not, but she closed her eyes again, desperately wanting this to all just be a bad dream, it seemed all too unreal and terrible to be happening.

"Open your eyes girl, and look over to your partner!" Hawkmoth demanded, his hand reaching high up into the air.

She didn't want to turn, but Hawkmoth's palm against her cheek forced her to. It was then that she saw Cat Noir without the mask.

All this time it had been her crush Adrien Agreste. Cat Noir was Adrien Agreste. Marinette was Ladybug. All along they were two star struck lovers, clueless to how the other felt.

Marinette felt her body go numb, her heart almost stopping in the utter shock and disbelief that she had been giving herself all this time, and now she had no choice but to accept, but she somehow knew that it was him.

Somehow deep down they both knew.

 **Sorry Sorry Sorry! I have to end it there because I have no idea what to write next! I am really sorry it's short but I don't know how to continue it right now! Hopefully in two-three day's time I can find a way to continue it. But unfortunately until then this is where it's staying at.**

 **This story is not over, I just need to work out exactly what to write next. See you in a few days time! (hopefully...)**


	20. An Escape

**To be honest after the last chapter I had no idea what to write next, but now that I've had a little time to think this story through, I think I know how it'll end. I'm not saying that this is the last chapter, definitely not! ;) I'm just saying I know what sort of ending I want, and that'll happen sometime later, don't know when but later.**

 **So I did leave things off in the last chapter pretty heavy, thanks for all the feedback on that! :D I got so much feedback from that chapter not just on FanFiction but on deviantART too since I post this story there too! ^^**

 **Oh, one more thing. I do realise I forgot to mention details in regards to that story cover contest I was planning. So basically I'm asking all of you, but if you can't that's fine, to create a story cover for this story. Deadline? Well I'm not really sure on that yet but I'd like to know if any of you could participate. :)**

 **Anyways, enjoy Chapter 20 of Revelations!**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 20 – An Escape**

Nothing but blank stares and utter silence were shared between the two, yet Adrien was still confused as to why Hawkmoth called him his son, it made him look away from Marinette in deep thought as he pressed his lips firmly together.

It couldn't be...He thought. Could his father be Hawkmoth? It all made the more sense now that he thought about it, when he questioned his ring, when he stared at it when he shook his hand as Chat, that last fight in his office. He wanted to deny it, but it made more sense the more he thought about it.

He looked up at Hawkmoth, could see the similar build of his father's body present on Hawkmoth, the same colour eyes too. Adrien only needed one final confirmation that it was Gabriel, Hawkmoth needed to undo his transformation.

Before Adrien could ask Hawkmoth to release his transformation, he could hear quiet sobs coming from Marinette. He sighed as his thoughts returned to all those times he fought alongside her, not knowing that they were in the same class and good friends, she had liked him all along as Adrien but never as Cat Noir, but it was so conflicting as he thought more of the confusion of their relationship with each other.

He liked Ladybug, but Ladybug didn't like Chat because she liked his alter ego and Adrien only found Marinette as a friend because he liked her alter ego. It all made the more sense as he drew the lines from one end to the other. He only wished he found out sooner, that way both he and Marinette would be happy together as a couple, but now he didn't know what to think as he was still pinned to the ground with Lady Wi-Fi's locks.

Hawkmoth cackled in evil laughter, putting Adrien's ring on his own finger, but yet he didn't ask Plagg to transform him. Instead he glared at Marinette and kneeled down in front of her.

"Where did your kwami go?" He asked in deep anger, his eyes narrowing at her water engulfed blue ones.

Marinette sniffled as she looked up at the villain, she wished she knew but at the same time it was good that she didn't. She didn't know the full extent to Hawkmoth's powers, all she knew was that he could akumatise other people under a deep state of revenge and anger. It was then that she glanced over at her crush, he was deep in thought but the narrowing of his eyebrows showed that he was getting frustrated or annoyed.

Her heart pounded, she didn't have time to take it all in. She felt Hawkmoth grip her chin tightly and growl as his heated breath was felt against her face. "Listen to me girl, you tell me where they are now!"

She cried again, her louder cries pinched Adrien's heart and made him turn to her, he wanted more than ever just to hold her in his arms to make her feel better, but at the same time he wanted to cry too. So far this was turning out to be the worst and most unluckiest day of his life. Luckily Marinette had some luck on her side, she didn't have her miraculous taken away from her. Tikki was quick enough to grab it and fly off.

But unfortunately she didn't know where her kwami disappeared to, and it wouldn't matter either way since she couldn't leave. She felt Hawkmoth kick her in the leg, severely bruising it as she shouted in pain, making Adrien's anger rise to a boil.

"You leave her alone!" He demanded, trying all he could to break free of the locks.

Hawkmoth stood straight, his face turning to his son with a glare before he stormed over to him, looking threatening and dominant over the blonde teen. "Unless you know where her miraculous went you stay out of this!" He demanded, pointing a finger at him.

Adrien glared, his eyes twitching with Hawkmoth's finger an inch away from his face, he wanted to know for sure if Hawkmoth was indeed his own father, aside from the overwhelming evidence that he was. "Show who you really are. I want to see the truth!" Adrien requested in demand, his eyes glaring and his teeth grinding together in pure hatred for Hawkmoth hurting Marinette.

The villain stood upright, a firm hand rested under his chin in thought. He knew exactly what Adrien wanted him to do, and seeing that his hands were unable to move to do anything to him, he grinned slightly as he stepped back towards the staircase, closing his eyes and pressing his hands against his miraculous.

"Nooroo, undo my transformation." He requested, before a swarm of white butterflies formed around Hawkmoth, making Adrien and Marinette shield their eyes from the bright light.

And then when the flash of light diminished, Adrien's suspicions and the obvious hints became a reality as the mask from his face disappeared and the silver hair and glasses appeared, his purple attire becoming white and red, his miraculous in plain sight. Then he realised that Gabriel had kept it hidden underneath his fashionable tie. He never questioned it before, but now he knew how his own father was able to hide the miraculous from him.

Just then, a light purple kwami appeared by Gabriel's side, looking tired and weak. He turned to see Plagg floating close by, Plagg had wanted to fly back over to Adrien, but he feared that Hawkmoth would do something horrible to the ring.

"Plagg? Master what is going on here?" The purple kwami cried, seeing two teens with their hands locked against the ground.

Gabriel didn't reply, instead he looked straight at his son, a serious expression held on his face as Adrien felt the stinging feeling of his father's eyes on him. He looked up once more; anger filled his face with redness and heat. He wanted to break free and hit his own father, but in a way it didn't seem right. He didn't speak a word to his father after that reveal. He had nothing more to say.

"You are finished Cat Noir, soon I'll have Ladybug's miraculous and you two will perish!" He declared, shaking his fist in pre-victory.

It was then that Adrien realised how much of a selfish and controlling man his father was. All he wanted was to be on top, to be the most powerful miraculous holder more than anyone else. It was like he didn't even recognise his own son anymore, the way Adrien saw it was that his father now only thought of him as an enemy, despite being his own son.

He wished he had someone to talk to about this, but all that he was left with was his thoughts. He could only think about everything and how it all made so much sense, yet at the same time his emotions overwhelmed him. His eyes twitched in pure anger, this time he pulled his arms to the extent that they became dislocated, he screamed in pain before he knelt back down and growled loudly at his father while the man smiled.

"You're not even my father anymore! I hate you!" Adrien cried, tears bursting from his eye sockets in deep hurt and betrayal. "I thought you were my father, now you're just an evil man wanting nothing more than power!"

Gabriel knew that there was less to this that Adrien knew about why he decided to become Hawkmoth. It was only because of one woman that he lost, but then he found her again. But unfortunately things took a dark turn from when she returned.

"You don't know anything about me do you?" He asked, shaking his head as he closed his eyes.

Adrien raised an eyebrow in confusion, but his expression still intensified from the boiling rage inside him.

The man walked up to his son and kneeled down in front of him, shooting a small evil grin before speaking. "I became Hawkmoth for one reason and that reason only."

Adrien looked up at his father, wanting to know exactly why he decided to become the evil Hawkmoth he is now.

"I did it for your mother...but then she returned...her nagging returned too, and I didn't want to go through that again." He explained, his head lowered as he closed his eyes.

And then suddenly it made all the more sense as to why Nathalie was such a monotone woman around him, she always did what she was asked to do and almost never slipped up. Adrien didn't know how long his mother had been like that but he must have assumed it was a while.

While all of this was going on, Marinette listened but continued to cry as she thought of all those times she was with Cat Noir and imagined Adrien as Chat. It was hard to believe, but she understood now more than ever how clueless she really was.

All those times Adrien left the same time she did during class just to stop an akuma attack was him leaving to turn into Cat Noir, and then she felt extremely surprised and impressed by how Adrien was so well at changing back and forth that day she was protecting him and his father from Jackaday. It must have been stressful for him at the time.

But now, he didn't have the luxury of transforming into Cat Noir anymore. Adrien couldn't be his confident and wild self without being behind that mask because no one knew who he was; he thought the same of Marinette. Being superheroes behind a mask was a true way to let unexplored traits be set free. As Ladybug Marinette was more confident and brave, while Cat Noir was more serious and outgoing.

It was something that they both enjoyed doing when they were behind that mask, but now Adrien had certainty that he wouldn't be enjoying that luxury any time soon. He looked up at a scared Plagg floating halfway in-between him and his father, he only wished Plagg could take the miraculous off Gabriel like Marinette's kwami was able to do, but he realised that it could have been an ability that only Marinette's kwami possessed.

Then Adrien focused his attention to the purple kwami, he seemed too caring and innocent to seem like an evil kwami, Marinette thought the same also when she looked at the purple butterfly kwami. It was obvious now that there was no such thing as an evil miraculous but only misuse of the miraculous that results in dark and evil power.

In all the meanwhile, Gabriel looked closely at Cat Noir's miraculous on his finger, he was glad it was able to fit on his finger tightly. He moved it around with his fingers, never having possessed this miraculous before and only knowing what it was made him intrigued and excited to see what it could do to him.

He cleared his throat as he fixed up his coat and looked forward before turning slightly to his kwami Nooroo. "You may go have a brief snack, but don't be too long." He warned as he rested his hands behind his back, looking away from his kwami.

Nooroo looked at the scared and mentally broken teenagers, he wanted more than ever to help them but he could only obey the holder of his miraculous. He sighed before he flew out of the room, taking in a sad glance towards Plagg before leaving.

"Now, I'm not going to use this miraculous yet until I have yours Ladybug." He stated, looking over towards Mariette who lifted her head slightly, before she turned it to Adrien, who was looking directly at her.

Adrien gave her a warm smile, to show that he was supporting of her in spite of knowing who she really was underneath the mask. She wanted to return that smile but felt an overwhelming amount of negativity that she could only lean her head down and shut her eyes tightly as tears seeped through, running down her cheeks.

She wanted all of this just to be a dream, but the pain from her leg when Hawkmoth kicked it was still there and hurting. She wanted Tikki back, she wanted Hawkmoth defeated, and she wanted to go home and forget this ever happened, in spite learning that her long time crush was fighting alongside her all this time.

Then Gabriel left without saying a word, he walked towards the front doors with Plagg being forced to follow him and then he slammed them shut behind him. He had all confidence that his son and the girl wouldn't be able to escape without their miraculous. And he was definitely certain that Adrien wasn't going anywhere for two reasons. One, he didn't have his miraculous anymore, and two, that's where he lived.

He knew for so long that Adrien was Cat Noir, their voices seemed so similar, the ring on the same finger, on the same hand when he saw it on both Cat Noir and Adrien. Gabriel knew exactly what the miraculous looked like with and without their kwamis inside them. He looked up at the darkened sky, seeing that Stormy Weather had taken over the weather once again. Gabriel smiled in pride of his accomplishment, but still knew that without Ladybug's miraculous his powers would be unbalanced. He wanted it all.

It wasn't long later that Nooroo came zooming past, not stopping at all past Adrien and Marinette as he made his way towards the front doors.

"Hey!" Adrien called in a whisper, making the purple kwami come to a halt. "Could you stay?"

Nooroo looked towards the door and sighed, feeling reluctance wash over him. "I'm sorry but I can't, I must stay with my master...he holds the miraculous so I have to do as he says...it's what all kwamis do. That's why Plagg followed my master outside just now." He explained, before slowly making his way to the door.

"Oh..." Adrien replied, looking down with a saddened look as the kwami left through the door.

In the room, there was full silence for what seemed forever but was only a minute as the teens were left alone, unable to touch one another but could look and talk to each other if they wanted to. Adrien was too immersed and overwhelmed by everything that he didn't know what to say anymore. His thoughts filled with betrayal and hurt from his father.

But they were washed away when he heard Marinette's voice. "Adrien...?" She said, looking over to him, his eyes darting straight at her as soon as she spoke.

"Yes?" He asked in a breathy tone, afraid that more negativity was going to come from Marinette after this huge revelation.

"I just want to say thank you for being there for me."

Adrien's eyes widened, it wasn't what he was expecting to hear as a first word response from the revelation of their secret identities, but it did make him smile as his heart relaxed more. "Thanks Marinette. And I thank you for always supporting me and being a good partner." He complimented with a warm smile.

Marinette felt a blush tingle against her cheeks, if only she could run up to him, but at the same time the revelation was still very raw to her, and she expected Adrien to feel this conflicted too, but feared that because of who Hawkmoth really was he felt more angered and betrayed than she did.

Gabriel was her fashion idol, she was shocked too, but she was more shocked at the fact that it was Adrien's own father that was Hawkmoth all this time. She did feel betrayed; she now hated Gabriel and wished she didn't enjoy his designs as much as she did. And she was surprised too as to how well Gabriel was able to keep that miraculous hidden away from everyone's eyes, but she had slight suspicions when Gabriel asked to take a look at her earrings. She knew he knew something about her miraculous.

Suddenly, Tikki came back through the window with a face of determination as she held the earrings in her tiny arms. Marinette gasped and her eyes widened at the more likely opportunity to escape and have her miraculous still safe from Hawkmoth.

"Tikki?!" Marinette cried in shock, causing Adrien to quickly lift his head up and gasp also.

Tikki quickly placed the earrings back on Marinette's ears before floating directly in front of her, her expression firm and full of determination and seriousness. "Say the words." She requested, her expression still serious.

Marinette felt a smile creep against her lips, her optimism returning as she spoke the command to transforming into Ladybug. "Tikki, spots on!"

It was then that Adrien watched in awe and amazement his good friend turn into his lady; it was an amazing sight that he wanted to see more and more of. The way the outfit glided over her skin, making her body more graceful and powerful at the same time.

Ladybug lifted her head after her transformation was complete, she then realised that it was the first time she transformed in front of someone, and this someone was actually her partner in crime. She looked over towards him and saw the shocked and amazed expression on his face; a smile crept along his lips.

"That was beautiful." He said, feeling his cheeks burn in heat from the blush that spread across them.

It wasn't long later that Ladybug used her lucky charm, with her fingers still being able to move but not her whole hand, she was able to flick her fingers linked with her yoyo up into the air to turn into Lady Wi-Fi's phone. Ladybug knew exactly what to do as soon as she saw the phone, as it landed on the ground, Ladybug used her foot to swipe against the screen, causing both her and Adrien to become free from the locks.

Adrien smiled widely in amazement and great relief, he looked up at Ladybug. Now he knew who she was, he wanted to run up to her and hold her in his arms, but then the feelings of his miraculous being taken returned. Ladybug could see it in his eyes, she wasn't sure how much of what Hawkmoth did she would be able to fix up, but she flung the phone into the air and tiny ladybugs whizzed everywhere.

Gabriel saw this within an instant and growled before he transformed and ran back inside, only to see that both teens were gone. "I'll get you Ladybug!" He announced loudly before he screamed in loss.

But he still felt the feeling of a ring still on his right hand; he looked to see that Cat Noir's miraculous was still on his finger. He smirked and chuckled evilly as he knew that Ladybug would be back soon.

 **Well there you go! I budged through! And you know, during this time I'm usually drop dead tired because I leave this chapter so late on Thursday nights and I've usually been up since 7 in the morning. It's weird how my body works... XD**

 **But anyways, I think that Chapter definitely made a turnaround, and it looks like that's not the end! I know you guys want more but be patient! Next Chapter coming around Sunday/Monday. ;)**


	21. New Adjustments

**Things have been busy but I've been able to get things done sooner because of this long weekend that I currently (as of posting this chapter) have! :D I don't have as much homework now that I finished more than half of it, but don't worry I didn't sacrifice time just to write this, I'm writing this because I have time and I really want to! To be honest, I feel like you readers...excited to see what's going to happen next, but for me it's what am I going to write next? So exciting! :D**

 **So anyways, I was able to make a big turnaround from the previous Chapter, and I don't see an ending to this story anytime soon so don't get worried about that just yet. ;) This story will end eventually but just not right now. I'm planning on wrapping up the other FanFiction I'm working on the moment so I can focus more on this one, but that one will take another few weeks.**

 **Well, enough of me talking...here's Chapter 21 of Revelations! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 21 – New Adjustments**

Neither Adrien nor Ladybug spoke a word until they were both safely landed inside Marinette's room, she untransformed and Adrien watched slightly from the side and saw a little red kwami fly out of her earrings. Tikki could see the conflicted feelings inside both teenagers, she wanted to help, but knew that Marinette had to figure this out herself.

An intense blush crept over Marinette's cheeks when she realised how Adrien knew she liked him. It couldn't have been more obvious, after telling Chat who she really liked and Chat having been in her room before saw the overwhelming evidence printed on her walls, but now only one picture remained, she clanged onto her feelings because she felt like there was still hope between her and Adrien, now she didn't know what to think.

They both turned to face each other, both in silence and with a saddened look on their faces, Marinette's was more shy and embarrassed as she crossed one arm over her chest to tightly grab the other in insecurity. She didn't want Adrien finding out this way, she feared that he would think less of her if Ladybug was typical old Marinette, but knowing that Adrien was Cat Noir should've made things more simplistic between the two.

But then the thoughts of the kiss robbed her mind, she knew Adrien wasn't thinking about it in that very moment as he was staring miserably at his bare hand that contained his miraculous on it. He already missed hearing Plagg's demands for cheese and his witty comments about his love life, but that's when he looked up at Marinette who was staring at her computer screen, which was still open to the kiss they shared from earlier.

It made Adrien's cheeks heat up as he felt the bubbles fizzle inside him, he had kissed Marinette...Marinette had kissed him. It all made the more sense now that Ladybug liked Adrien because she was Ladybug, and Marinette understood much clearly now why Adrien loved Ladybug so much, he was Cat Noir this entire time.

So there they were, two lovers, two heroic partners, a team...staring at each other with an intense blush spread across their cheeks. Marinette's kwami sat on the pillow and waited for Marinette or Adrien to speak, she didn't want to intrude on this situation as she intended Marinette to sort this all out.

Marinette looked up and stared deeply into Adrien's eyes, she could see the mutual feelings trying to escape his lips but his conflicted thoughts about everything that happened today prevented them. She knew she would have to speak first as soon as she looked back at Tikki and saw her nod with a serious expression. Marinette took in a deep breath to relax herself, but when she looked up at Adrien again her nervousness was still at bay, nevertheless, she tried to speak.

"All...t-th-this...t-time..." She muttered, feeling an overwhelming urge to hug him tightly and cry.

Adrien stared into her bluebell eyes; they looked just as heavenly as Ladybug's did, no wonder he was so drawn to Marinette without even realising who she really was. It was his subconscious trying to tell him that Marinette was the one he loved, and who also was Ladybug. But it never fought through until now.

"I know..." Adrien breathed, taking one step closer to Marinette.

The nervous navy haired teen felt her muscles tense as she saw Adrien take a step closer towards her. She didn't know what was going to happen next, this day had been filled with so many unexpected events she lost almost all of her optimism and confidence to have an idea of what was going to happen next.

She tightly closed her eyes, sniffling as she felt the tears develop; she opened them when she felt a touch on her shoulder. Marinette looked up to see a smiling Adrien right in front of her.

"We can work this out, I know we can." He assured her, wiping a tear from her cheek as he caressed it.

Marinette sniffled again; she wiped her nose as she looked away slightly, her mind still trying to grasp all of this overwhelming information, her hands tightly clenched against her chest, before she felt Adrien bury her face into his chest and his arms wrap around her in embrace.

"It's nice to know the love of my life...is also my good friend."

Then, her eyes widened in response, Adrien's words seemed so meaningful, and yet she assumed that with his miraculous taken by none other than his father that turned out to be Hawkmoth, he was still able to remain content. But she knew he must be fighting it all on the inside just to not let it out. Marinette felt her muscles soften and relax as the warmth of Adrien flowed through her skin; a smile crept across her face as she wrapped her arms around Adrien to return the embrace.

"M-me too." Marinette said with a crooked smile, her emotions trying to adjust.

They unlocked their arms from the hug and stared each other in the eyes, Adrien wanted to so badly kiss her right there, but his negative and conflicted thoughts about his miraculous under the possession of Hawkmoth, now revealed as his father, he held one hand tightly against Marinette's while he stared into his right bare hand.

Marinette could see the unhappiness in his eyes as the blonde teen sighed, closing his eyes slowly before looking back up at Marinette.

"Now I'm useless without my ring, you're the only one who can defeat him." Adrien admitted, knowing without his ring he couldn't do much to help Ladybug defeat Hawkmoth.

Marinette felt her lips part in sudden shock of how much confidence Adrien had in her and how much negativity he was putting on himself because of the lack of his miraculous. Marinette was always confident in being Ladybug; it was only up until recently that Tikki convinced her how hiding behind a mask doesn't make a difference to who you truly are.

This made her realise that his kwami didn't give Adrien any boost of confidence whatsoever, but remembered how Chat would always be outgoing ad confident around her. He already had the confidence he needed, but now he lost it, he didn't understand the importance of not differentiating who he really was compared to who he was with a mask on.

"That's not true. We're a team." Marinette said with confidence, folding her hands over and under his ring-less hand. "You're still the same person with or without the mask." She assured him, looking into his saddened emerald eyes, before she turned slightly to look at her kwami. "Just like someone told me." She ended with a smile.

Tikki nodded with a smile, seeing that Marinette had now fully come to terms with accepting herself as one person and not two different people. Sure she looked different and acted different, but that didn't make her a different person, she was still the same person on the inside.

Adrien looked up, a smile formed as he felt his emotions lighten up from Marinette's kind and reassuring words. She truly was Ladybug, with or without the mask. "Thanks Marinette."

He embraced her again, he felt his heart race and the warmth of their chests collide into one, it was a warming and touching moment, but Marinette let go shortly after, showing a concerned expression as she held Adrien's right hand in hers.

"We have to get your miraculous back as soon as possible." She informed, before Adrien's fingers intertwined with hers, making Marinette's cheeks blush a bright pink while her whole body tensed up.

Adrien sighed as his thoughts went back to his father being Hawkmoth, now he had nowhere to live; there was no way he could live under his father's own roof now after finding out who Hawkmoth really was. His miraculous was gone and the only person he could look up to for help was Marinette, he wasn't sure what happened to his mother after Ladybug cleansed the town of akumas but he was sure she was around his father somewhere.

"I have nowhere to go...how are we going to get my ring and Plagg back?" He asked, feeling so helpless in that moment, he had no idea what to do without his miraculous. The only thing he could think of was Ladybug getting the miraculous for him and defeating Hawkmoth all on her own, but her words of assurance made him realise how much they needed each other in battle, even though Ladybug was the one that can cleanse the akuma, Cat Noir was always there by her side helping her when she needed it.

Marinette looked down; she knew he wouldn't have anywhere else to go. He couldn't stay with Nino's without a truthful explanation, but too many revelations have happened already today. She didn't want everyone else knowing who they really were; she was still trying to grasp the concept of them knowing who they both really were. Tikki flew by Marinette's side and looked at Adrien with concern, before looking at Marinette assuming she knew exactly what to do.

It was then Marinette realised that Adrien had only one place where he could stay and be safe and have someone to talk to about everything, and that was here with Marinette in her room. It was a very high risk knowing that her parents could come in and see Adrien in her bedroom without even seeing him enter the bakery, but it was a risk Marinette was willing to take.

Although her thoughts still speechless over the fact that her crush and partner were two in one, she couldn't imagine Adrien staying anywhere else but here with her, she knew it was going to be an uncomfortable time having two people who just realised who they both secretly were sleeping underneath the same roof together. She sighed before she answered to Adrien.

"You can stay here."

Adrien lifted his head, a small gasp emitted from his mouth when she said that, his eyes widened as his heart beat quickened with excitement but full of nervousness. "Are you sure..? For how long?" He asked, worried for himself being caught by Marinette's parents, getting them both into trouble.

Marinette crossed her arms over her chest tightly and firmly gripped her forearms as she looked down, feeling unsure about how to answer that question. "I don't know..." she sighed, not knowing exactly when Adrien could go back home, but at the moment it almost seemed impossible.

Adrien lowered his eyes, seeing how saddened and serious Marinette was about not knowing how long he'd be staying with her. He couldn't think of a good time to go home any time soon, his father would definitely be on the lookout for him, and as far as he knew, his father had no clue as to who Marinette was so he didn't know where she lived.

He looked up at Marinette with a sigh, he didn't want to find out this way about who Ladybug really was and vice versa, but knowing that Ladybug was also a close friend made him happier. He smiled as he rested a hand on one of Marinette's shoulders.

"It's okay." He assured her. "We'll work this out together."

Marinette gulped in slight nervousness at how far away Adrien was to her, only inches. In a panic she moved away and sat on her bed, still wrapping her arms around herself in insecurity. "I know but...how do we defeat Hawkmoth and get your miraculous back?" she asked, lifting her head, her eyes following the blonde teen before he sat on the bed next to her.

"I think for the rest of the day, we just get used to knowing who we both really are. I know getting my miraculous back and defeating Hawkmoth is our top priority. But if we want to defeat him together, we need to get used to this." He explained, Marinette's hands now on the side of the bed, Adrien rested his hand over hers to show how he felt about her.

It was all that Marinette wanted and more, she just didn't expect the love of her life to also be her heroic flirty partner Cat Noir. She was filled with mixed feelings of happiness, relief, shock and confusion. Her expression remained emotionless as her mind fought over which emotion she should display.

"Okay..." She whispered, a sniffle from her nose before she felt Adrien's fingers intertwine with hers, she looked up with flushed cheeks, her heart beating out of her chest as she saw the look on Adrien's face that she only dreamed of him giving her.

"Marinette...?"

Marinette felt her eyes look nowhere else but into his shining green eyes, she could feel him edging closer to her lips, but then he stopped and smiled assumingly at her.

"I'm glad that all this time it was you." He said with a caring smile.

Biting her lips then smiling in shyness, she looked up with a thankful expression, her cheeks the same colours as his, a pink stain on both their cheeks as they smiled at each other. Marinette in some way was really happy that the love her life was with her more than she realised, and that he cared for her too, but what was a real shock to her was how Adrien acted as Cat Noir. She could never see Adrien act like that, even when they both knew he still didn't act like Chat, but it must have been due to the severity of the situation.

"T-thanks...I'm glad it's always been you too. But there's one thing I don't understand..." She started to explain, looking at Adrien with a slightly confused expression.

Adrien's eyes widened slightly as he raised one of his eyebrows in confusion and worry as to what Marinette didn't understand. "What?" He asked, his smile gone as he waited for Marinette to respond.

A sigh escaped her mouth as she looked down temporarily before looking back up at him, still with a confused look. "You never act like Cat Noir when you're Adrien. I can't picture you two as the same person because you both act so different..." She admitted, before realising the reason why he acted that way when he was Chat.

It was the same reason when she was Ladybug. It was so they could embrace their hidden traits and become more brave, confident and outgoing with others around them, to explore the unexplored traits that they possessed.

"I know I don't, but in some ways I do act like Cat Noir when I'm not behind the mask. It's the same with you. I've noticed how braver and more confident in maintaining a situation you are. It's all because you're also Ladybug protecting all of Paris." He acknowledge, waving his hand out to exaggerate how big Paris really was.

Marinette felt the blush on her cheeks heat up her entire face; she could see now how much Adrien and Cat Noir were truly alike. He always complimented her and picked her up when she was down, and she would do the same. There was no way Chat was anyone else but Adrien Agreste.

"Thanks." She replied with a soft giggle. "I can really see you as Cat Noir now; he always complimented me and made me feel better about myself, much like Tikki..." She stated, turning her head to a proud Tikki sitting on her pillow. "But even more special to me." She admitted, before her lips parted in a quick gasp of sudden realisation.

Despite the two of them knowing who they truly were, it didn't stop their feelings from showing through. The evidence was already obvious when Adrien continuously held her hand while they spoke, and they both continued to blush and look into each other's eyes.

They were truly meant for each other.

The two approached each other's lips, ready to seal their lips with a true romantic kiss. But then a knock was heard from below.

"Marinette?" A voice called, sounding a lot like her mother before the door to downstairs started to open.

Adrien and Marinette clenched their teeth in sudden nervousness and panic, Marinette didn't know how to explain Adrien in her room without them ever seeing him come in. So Adrien made a dash for the covers while Tikki hid behind the pillow as her mother entered to see Marinette sitting very tensely on the edge of her bed.

"Dinner's ready dear, come down when you're ready." She said, before going back downstairs and closing the trap door behind her.

Marinette sighed in relief as Adrien came out of hiding and so did Tikki, then Adrien smelt the covers without realising what he was doing. He smiled as the lovely and familiar scent was all over the covers, he smiled dreamily as his muscles relaxed before Marinette called out his name.

"Adrien? What...are you doing..?" She asked, looking slightly disgusted.

He looked up slightly dazed before he realised what he was doing. He scrambled amongst the sheets in a panic then sat cross-legged on the bed guiltily scratching the back of his head as he shone a sheepish grin with a red blush against his cheeks. "Uh...sorry. I guess it's cat instincts?" He assumed, shrugging at the thought.

Marinette giggled at Adrien's humour, he seemed cute when he was like that. There was no way she could picture Chat anyone else except him. They were way too alike the more she was with Adrien, and Adrien could see the same with her.

These two were made for each other.

 **Aha I know what you guys are probably thinking, and I won't say it because I know I'll be right when you guys review on this Chapter. Some of you must be so frustrated right now, but no need to worry. There will be more lovey-dovey stuff happening because of the revelation. It doesn't stop here! ^^ I think this chapter was the most I have written on these two in just one chapter, but a fair bit of angst on Adrien's side.**

 **What will happen next? Find out around Wednesday/Thursday! ;)**


	22. Keeping It Secret

**Yay I'm getting more caught up with my homework so I have more spare time this weekend! That means you might just see the next chapter for this story on Sunday instead of Monday! :D So, I've been really seeing this story getting heaps and HEAPS of love and that means so much to me, thank you guys! ^^**

 **It's so great to see so amazing readers taking the time to read my story, just makes me feel really loved ^.^ And because I post this story on deviantART, I've been getting more watchers because of it! So that actually means that there are more people following this story than it says above in the stats. ;)**

 **But enough of that, let's get to more fluff! Oh man, I love writing this story! :D**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 22 – Keeping It Secret**

During dinner, Adrien remained upstairs, thinking long and hard about the events of today and how they led him to have to stay with Marinette. Although now it didn't bother him because he and Marinette were good friends and since he knew who she really was, it was more thrilling and heart racing to be spending so much time with her.

He looked up at Marinette's kwami, it was just as adorable as Marinette was; only miniature sized and looking more like a ladybug. Adrien chuckled at how cute the kwami seemed and reached a finger out towards her, caressing her chin as Tikki allowed it, humming at the gentle feel of a rub.

"You're so adorable, how can Marinette have such a cute kwami as you when she's already cute enough?" Adrien teased, blushing slightly as he thought of what he just said about Marinette.

The ladybug kwami giggled as she saw the tinted colour on the blonde's cheeks. "Did you think she was cute before you knew?"

It was a good question, had he always found her cute? Before he found out, his love was only for Ladybug but he had to admit that their first amusing moment together out in the rain was awfully cute. At the time however, he found her as a new friend he could spend some time with to get to know. He couldn't help but agree with Tikki on this one.

"Well I guess you got me there on that one." He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

Then not long later, Marinette came back upstairs with some food for Adrien, she let him eat in peace by going back downstairs and helping her parents out around the kitchen. A little while later, Marinette came back upstairs with some extra pillows for Adrien, she wasn't sure exactly where he would sleep, but she knew he wasn't going to be sleeping on the ground, and neither was she.

Even though they knew they loved each other, they were still trying to grasp the reality of it, so there was no way the two of them could sleep in the same bed so soon. Luckily she remembered she had another sort of bed in her room that Adrien could sleep on, but it was smaller than her own bed so she worried if it would be too uncomfortable for him, she laid out some sheets on it anyway and then turned to a hunger satisfied teen.

"Your parents make a great meal." He complimented, smiling at her.

Marinette giggled nervously, before she rubbed the back of her neck nervously and gestured to her setup. "Is this too small for you?" She asked.

Adrien walked up to the bed and examined it, compared to his own it was definitely smaller and looked more like a combination of both a sofa and a bed, which made Adrien smirk in amusement before he shook his head. "It is a little small..." He admitted, not wanting to let Marinette down. "But don't worry I think it'll do, I don't mind my feet hanging off, it's no big deal." He assured, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Well...if you say so." Marinette replied, her cheeks heating up from his touch.

The blonde teen smiled in response before he yawned with a hand covering his mouth. "I think it's time we go to sleep. Today has been a really long day...and we have school tomorrow." He reminded, sighing in frustration at the thought of school.

Marinette knew exactly what he was thinking, how were they going to make this work without anyone else noticing. Without his miraculous, Adrien couldn't hide out as Cat Noir and do patrols around Paris. They knew that without his miraculous there were very limited things Adrien could do to hide from Marinette's parents.

They knew that lying to her parents wasn't a good thing, but what choice did they have? Adrien literally had nowhere else to go. There was no way he was going back home after all he had been through today, as much as he wanted to go back there and beat the hell out of his father, he couldn't because he knew he couldn't without Ladybug's help, aside from the fact that she said they need each other, Adrien still felt powerless compared to Ladybug. He didn't have much to fight with.

All he had were his fencing and karate lessons, but he had dropped out of karate a while ago because it was taking up too much of his time. But Adrien knew that his father didn't swordfight or kick and punch, he didn't have an idea on his own father's fighting style because it seemed like he didn't have one at all.

It was then that he realised that his father had much more power over him now even more than he did before. Since he was Hawkmoth and they both knew who each other were, there was no doubt he was going to be on the lookout for his son.

He started to think of how he could go to school in this condition, Marinette thought the same. She worried herself more to think that Adrien didn't have much defence without her, despite her advice to him earlier, he had more of an advantage if he had his miraculous, and then it stung his heart even more when he remembered where his miraculous was, it made his heart beat quicken in a sudden panic.

"Marinette...what if my father's already started using my miraculous...?" He asked nervously, sitting on what they both called his bed as he wrapped his arms around his chest.

Marinette sat on the bed with him, she sat an inch closer to him than she did before, leaving almost nothing less than a finger between their thighs. She knew Hawkmoth had possession of Adrien's miraculous, but she remembered distinctly that Hawkmoth wasn't going to use it until he had the full balance of good luck and bad luck.

It made her thoughts sadden as she thought of the irony in how Adrien possessed bad luck in this very moment in spite of not having his miraculous anymore.

"I don't think he has. "She responded in assurance. "I remember him saying he needs my miraculous too to have the balance right." She explained, her hand resting on Adrien's shoulder.

Adrien looked up at the serious yet adoring Marinette, he couldn't help but loved the way she looked, even though she was holding a sincere and serious expression, he still found her loving and adorable. It made him smile and gaze into her eyes.

"You're really adorable Marinette, have I told you that recently?" He asked almost suggestively, his mood lifted by Marinette's words.

The navy haired teen blushed at the thought before moving away from him slightly in shyness, feeling embarrassment and her nervous side kick in, she could tell by the tone of his voice that he was letting his Cat Noir identity seep through his real one around her, she hoped it would only be around her and no one else.

"N-no..." She muttered, before looking back on all the times she was with him when they were in their superhero forms. "And I don't think you told me at Cat Noir either." She added.

"Oh." Adrien replied, a little dumbfounded he hadn't told her that before. "Oh well, better late than ever." He stated with a shrug as he relaxed his muscles.

Marinette giggled in reply before she got off her bed and proceeded to get ready for bed, Adrien looked away in a respectful manner, even though Marinette still found it extremely embarrassing to be getting changed right in front of him even though he wasn't looking at all.

It wasn't long later that both of them were in their beds with the trap door locked for the night and only Marinette's lamp was turned on. Tikki was tucked next to Marinette's pillow ready to fall asleep, meanwhile Marinette stayed sitting up in her bed talking with Adrien.

"You know...I've never had this sort of thing happen before." She admitted, biting her lip a little.

Adrien rested his body weight in one arm as he scratched the back of his neck a little. "I know, I've never been allowed to sleep at anyone else's house before." He exclaimed, blushing slightly as he realised his first sleepover away from home was with the love of his life.

Marinette hummed and nodded in agreement, but she was also stating another fact. "That, and the fact that I don't know how long you're staying with me."

Those words caused an eerie silence to echo around Adrien as his now positive expression began to deepen down into the negative area, his lips moulding into a frown and his eyebrows lowered as he hung his head down low, intertwining his fingers together.

It didn't take long for Marinette to realise what she just said, she shook her head in guilt before she crawled over to the edge of her bed to get a clearer shot of Adrien from upstairs. "I'm sorry Adrien, but I know that together we can fix all of this."

All she heard was a long sad sigh before he looked up at Marinette. "You're right, let's just work things out here first then we'll get there. But we can't take too long, who knows what my father could be up to next." He explained, deep worry pitting down to his gut.

"Just try not to think about it too much." She added, wanting Adrien to have a peaceful sleep.

Adrien hummed and nodded with a small smile in response before he wriggled himself into the soft sheets and made himself comfortable. It wasn't long later that he felt his eyelids weigh down on him and close for the night. With all the strength he could, he called out to Marinette.

"Good night, Marinette."

"Good night to you too, Adrien."

Marinette slowly made her way back into her bed, she stared at the ceiling for a full minute as she took in the whole reality of what was going on in that very moment.

Adrien was in her room, sleeping in her room. Adrien Agreste, who after so long was revealed to be Ladybug's loyal friend and heroic partner Cat Noir was sleeping in her room. It was nothing like she dreamed of; her dreams were of the two of them cuddling on a big queen sized bed with the pillows custom made by her. As she flicked the last light switch off, she turned to her side with a hand resting under her head as she stared off into the almost blackness across her room in thought.

At the start of the day she was woken up by Alya, now she was going to bed with the love of her life sleeping in her room. So much had happened today, and she feared that tomorrow at school might make things turn bad for the worst. She didn't want that to happen, and she simply didn't want to think about it now. So she took deep breaths to relax herself, and then eventually she dozed off to sleep.

As the next day arrived, so did the stresses of a new day. It started off with a bang, or more of a knock as Marinette's father Tom was calling for her. This startled both teens awake and caused Adrien to panic and hide under the sheets he was sleeping in while Marinette almost collapsed rushing down the stairs to her trap door.

"Sorry, I forgot it's my turn to help set up shop." Marinette called out sheepishly, before unlocking the latch to allow his father to open it.

As soon as the latch was free, the door came wide open within a second; a mildly crossed and confused father was looking right at her. "Marinette, since when do you lock your door. You can trust us, can't you?" He asked in a sincere tone, worried that his daughter would have some trust issues.

Marinette bit her lips the instant he said that, she quickly turned her head to where Adrien was hiding, she started to think of whether to tell her parents or not, but decided to cover it up with a lie.

"Um, who knows? Maybe a robber could come in?" She implied, shining and guilty grin before she laughed nervously.

So Tom let his daughter get ready and join him downstairs to help him set up the bakery for the day, all she had to do was put some signs up and clean the front counter right before some customers started to pour in. This took all of half an hour before she raced back upstairs to see Adrien putting his shoes on with Tikki floating near his side, Marinette raised an eyebrow in suspicion as her kwami giggled at her.

"What are you giggling about?" Marinette questioned her kwami, pressing her lips firmly together into a pout as her hands rested against her hips.

Tikki continued to giggle before Adrien looked up at her, feeling amused himself at what Tikki told him before Marinette walked in. This frustrated and confused Marinette even more as she growled in impatience with no response.

"Don't worry about it Marinette, it's nothing to worry about." Adrien assured, snickering at the end as he looked back at the kwami.

"What? Tell me!" Marinette demanded, putting her foot down in frustration.

After another interval of laughing, Adrien found it unfair to frustrate Marinette this way. So he came clean. "Tikki was just telling me how much of a clumsy girl you were whenever you were around me." He explained, before realising something else. "Oh, and you used to not make sense around me much. Up until we became friends we talked like normal people.

Marinette hummed in agreement, but she didn't like those first few days where she thought Adrien was a part of a prank with Chloe, but now she knew that they were only just friends, and now that Marinette knew who he really liked, she could definitely see that Chloe's relationship with Adrien was mostly one sided.

And then, this made her gasp in sudden panic as she realised that they both had to be at school, but it was impossible for them to not make a scene in front of their friends if they're seen walking together like this. But then again, why was it like that? Were he and she finally dating after so long? Marinette wondered.

She knew he hadn't officially asked her out since all of this happened, she knew he wanted to ask her on that night, but she had to turn him down because her miraculous was running out of time and because at the time she thought she loved a completely different person. But now since they both know it was mutual; all along, does that make them dating?

Marinette wanted to clarify with Adrien first, even if he was or wasn't they still couldn't be seen together without millions of questions being asked she had to know just to be sure.

"Hey...A-Adrien..." She stuttered, her nervousness taking over the moment she approached him,

Adrien greeted her with a warming smile. "Good morning Marinette, did you sleep well?" he asked, gently touching both hands with hers.

The navy haired teen nodded, but then an incredibly serious and worried expression was printed all over her face. "I need to take you somewhere so that no one would suspect you came from here." She started to explain, hoping that her idea would actually work.

Adrien liked the idea, it didn't draw attention, and just like Marinette he was unsure as to whether he and she were a couple by now in spite of no one asking.

So as the next hour arrived, Marinette quickly transformed into ladybug and swung from building to building with Adrien hanging by her shoulder. Eventually she landed a good distance away from the school hidden in an alleyway where she let go of Adrien and prepared to leave before Adrien touched her shoulder, prompting her to stay a little while longer.

"Ladybug-Marinette...what should I call you?" He began to say, before he grew confused with which name to call her now.

"Call me Ladybug when I'm Ladybug, for the sake of my secret identity." She answered in a serious tone, before raising an eyebrow as to why Adrien didn't let her leave straight away.

"Oh...okay." He replied, looking down for a short moment before looking back up at her with his lips parted slightly.

Ladybug grew confused, she had to leave so she could make her way back home and meet up with Alya just outside her house, because knowing after what happened the day before it wouldn't be a surprise to see her best friend waiting for her outside the bakery.

"What is it Adrien? Is something wrong-"

Before Ladybug could even finish her sentence, her lips were locked with a kiss. Her eyes widened as the sudden rush of warm blood gushed through her body, her lips softening and moistening from the touch of Adrien's against hers. Her heart melted as she slowly closed her eyes while Adrien pulled her in for a more deeper and passionate kiss.

Ladybug grabbed the back of his head as she moaned softly while they kissed, Adrien's arms were wrapped around her slim body before he slowly pulled away, feeling the lip gloss from Ladybug's on his own lips. He licked them subtly with a gentle warm smile.

"That's to confirm that we are together." He declared, smiling at Ladybug who had cheeks as red as her own mask.

"Oh...uh right." She replied nervously, before giving him a quick wave and then swinging away with her yoyo.

Adrien looked up at her with an adoring smile, he sighed as his eyes followed her every move. He was head over heels in love with her and he didn't know how he was going to hide it away when he was around Marinette. It was going to take a lot of holding back, and he was already holding back on all the negativity he received from yesterday.

Today was going to be a challenge for both of them.

 **Okay I think I fell asleep halfway through that...lol jk. XD But if some of this chapter doesn't make sense it's because I was growing tired, but near the end I managed to wake myself up a little but to bust out a little but more of this Chapter. However if some of it doesn't make sense please don't hesitate to tell me. ^^**

 **So Adrien sealed it with a kiss, what's going to happen at school then? Find out in the next Chapter on more likely Sunday! :D**


	23. Taking it in

**Yeah looks like this wasn't posted on Sunday but...That last episode...I have no words...it was just so amazing and filled to the brim with feels and new information! Gah I can't hold it in! XD After that Volpina episode I'm not sure how I could fit that into the story, I know I like to keep stories in line with their respected show, but this episode was just too much! XC**

 **I'll see if I can include it, if not then it'll be left out so just letting you know in advance, and a reminder to those who are new to this story that most of this was written before some of the new episodes were released so don't say a certain part is wrong because of a new episode that released after it was posted, I can't do anything about that. Some parts of the new episodes aren't included because then it just gets way too confusing for this story, so some of those new released episodes are left out.**

 **So, enjoy the chapter! I must say this story has become increasingly popular, I love it! :D**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 23 – Taking it in**

Adrien walked into school with pride, he was glad Nino wasn't out the front waiting for him to not see him exit out of a car, he brushed past Alya on his way to his locker, he shot a friendly smile at her and a wave, she waved back, not changing her expression. She was still unsure of how to feel about Adrien's feelings to Ladybug, and the kiss posted everywhere, but it seemed that Marinette was okay with it, and although it was a little suspicious for her to not be overreacting, she decided not to over think Marinette's complicated emotions.

So by the time Adrien made it to his locker, Nino called out from behind. He turned to see his best friend approaching him with a bright smile.

"Hey dude, how have you been?" He asked, fist bumping Adrien's hand in a welcoming gesture.

He had been to hell and heaven, was his honest answer. His family was in a crisis while his love life just got a million times better. But he knew he couldn't tell his best friend any of that, it would blow everything.

"Not too bad, father's making me stay in more so I might not be able to hang out with you later." He explained, scratching the back his head nervously before preparing his things.

He knew that if he and Nino were to hang out they would ride in the car Gabriel would send for them, but with those recent and utterly shocking events unfold in front of him, there was an extremely slim chance that his father would send a car for him. So he decided that he'd stay in the shadows away from his father until he and Marinette could work out a plan together.

Not long later, the bell rang for class. Adrien and Nino started to walk over to their class, meanwhile Adrien kept his eyes on the front door. Alya was there waiting for her but she started to walk away. He was hoping Marinette wouldn't be too long, he smirked to himself in thought that the kiss was too overwhelming for her, but it did cause him to become lost in a trance before Nino snapped him out of it.

"You okay Adrien? You spaced out." He implied, his expression full of concern as they walked into class.

With a shake of his head, Adrien was snapped back to reality as he and his best friend sat down together in class.

"Sorry Nino, I just had a weird dream last night that's all."

The teacher had not arrived yet, but neither had Marinette. Adrien was getting a little worried, but then he heard the familiar footsteps of a clumsy girl just as Alya sat down in her spot.

And then, there she was. The love his life standing at the door. It was their first full day of knowing their secret identities; Adrien gazed at the navy haired teen as she rearranged her books in her arms before her eyes connected with Adrien's. Marinette felt her heart stop for a moment, remembering the sweet and passionate kiss they shared moments earlier, it made her heart melt. But they were in class and there was no way she wanted this to go public, as much as she wanted to tell Alya everything, she wanted Hawkmoth defeated and Adrien to have his miraculous back first.

Pink blushes appeared on both the teens' faces; luckily Nino was playing around on his phone to not notice the obvious blush on his best friend's cheeks. Marinette walked past him, her cheeks on fire from just the sight of him. She sat down and lowered her head shyly. She didn't know how she was going to keep it a secret, she felt like she was going to explode. But she knew if she could keep her identity as Ladybug a secret, she can keep this a secret.

Alya nudged Marinette, causing her to jump a little as she turned to her best friend, who was smirking at her.

"So, are you still going to try?" She whispered, her eyes gesturing to Adrien.

Marinette bit her lower lip as the blush remained constant on her cheeks, she was glad that she usually blushed around him otherwise Alya would get suspicious, but now almost every moment was going to be more and more difficult to handle when she was around him.

Then, the teacher walked in to begin the class. All the students remained quiet as the teacher introduced the first lesson of the day. As the class went on, Marinette couldn't help but look down at Adrien, now it was torture. Now that they were both secretly in a relationship it was extremely difficult for her to remain focus on the lesson, she could tell during some stages Adrien struggled also, but she knew he was going through a lot more pain than she was, it was pain that wasn't caused by her but by his family.

Adrien felt so conflicted inside, he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs but knew he couldn't say a word, he wasn't even sure if he was comfortable with letting it all out when he was alone with Marinette, they were both still getting used to knowing each other's secret identities, plus they were both now living under the same roof. But for now, Marinette was the only one he could basically tell anything to, he couldn't say anything about this to Nino and that's what frustrated him the most, if Nino noticed him struggling, he was more than likely going to fall apart and tell him everything all at once.

It wasn't because he couldn't keep a secret, but it was because he had so much negative emotion hidden away from the world that it was building up to the pressure point. He had to let it out, it only seemed fair that he let it out on his father, but with how everything was now, he knew he would only be helping his father by luring Ladybug in and capturing her miraculous.

So it wasn't long later that class was over, Adrien glanced at Marinette, giving the expression that he wanted to talk to her. Marinette bit her lip nervously as she looked to her best friend who was packing up her things, she hoped she wouldn't find anything suspicious about her staying behind, Adrien too.

Nino left without a question, he knew that sometimes Adrien would stay behind to catch up on schoolwork or talk to the teacher. But shortly after Nino left, the teacher left also. Marinette gave an assurance that she would catch up with her a few minutes from now. And with that, Adrien and Marinette were alone in the same room together.

Marinette sat in silence, looking down shyly at her lap, fiddling with her fingers before Adrien spoke up.

"I know this is going to be hard for us, but I know we can do this." He stated, having determination and confidence.

She looked up at what she could now call her boyfriend, it was too shocking for her mind to come to terms with everything that's happened in the last 24 hours, she was still trying to wrap her mind around everything, and in all the meanwhile she had started dating the love of her life, it was going to take her a while to get used to all this.

But what worried her foremost was how long could the two of them keep their relationship secret from everyone else? They couldn't tell anyone without giving the whole story, neither of them wanted that to happen, they weren't even sure if they'd be ready to tell everyone else when Hawkmoth was still out there and now he was after only Ladybug, but Adrien feared that his father would find him somehow.

"But for how long? I'm holding back as much as I can and it's only been half a school day." Marinette implied, her glossy eyes meeting Adrien's with concern and worry.

Adrien rested his hands over Marinette's as he scooted closer toward her, he could see her struggling on the inside, it made him realise how hard he was holding back to, it was worse for him because it was on top of everything else that happened, but he knew to some extent that Marinette was shocked with the revelation of Hawkmoth also, it didn't affect her as bad as it affected him.

"Marinette...I know you can do it. Right now I am holding back so much anger against my father I feel like I'm going to explode. And I'm more worried that I'll explode on you. Don't worry, we'll make it through today and after school we'll work out how to defeat my father." Adrien assured, bringing Marinette's hands closer to his chest as he smiled at her.

Marinette still felt unsure, but knew that with everything else that had been happening, she felt like trusting Adrien was all she could do at this point. And of course she trusted him; she just didn't trust her thoughts on how she could work this out. Only she had her miraculous and there was no doubt Hawkmoth was working out a plan to stop her. She knew Adrien could help but she wasn't sure how yet. As she thought to herself, she smiled as she felt relief gently wash over her.

"Okay..." She breathed softly, looking down for a moment before she locked her gaze with his. "Thanks Adrien."

His smile widened in reply, he gave her a sweet peck on the cheek before he grabbed his bag and proceeded to leave. Marinette sat there, almost frozen by the warmth of his lips meeting her already flushed cheek, she gently caressed that cheek before snapping back to reality when she heard students fumbling about outside.

As she walked out, Alya was talking with some other girls before she spotted Marinette. She said goodbye to the other girls and followed Marinette to the locker room. When she went in she saw Adrien there also at his locker putting his things away. She raised an eyebrow in suspicion, it was getting all too weird for them to be arriving and leaving almost at the same time. But she decided not to look too deep into it, she approached Marinette with a smirk.

"So, what are you and Adrien doing, hm?" She teased, her arms crossed over her chest.

Marinette jumped and almost collapsed when she heard Alya say that, she thought in an instant that Alya knew that they were dating, but turned to see the playful expression on her face, Marinette remained in a panic as she recollected her books and placed them neatly inside her locker, her muscles relaxing and feeling much calmer once she made eye contact with Alya.

"No...w-what would give you that idea?" Marinette asked nervously, biting her finger as the anxiety rose back up.

Her best friend chuckled in laughter; she loved it when Marinette got so flustered and nervous whenever she brought up Adrien. She rested a hand on the tense girl's shoulder in assurance.

"Don't worry; it's just getting more and more coincidental that you two left at the same time. Do I even need to ask why you stayed behind?" Alya questioned her, raising an eyebrow as her smirk widened.

Marinette clenched her teeth as the pair walked past Adrien who was still at his locker, she tried her best not to look, she knew her face would be crimson red if she did, but she didn't realise it was already close to that colour, and Alya could tell, she giggled with laughter as she saw Marinette react how she always would when she was around him, but this time for some reason it was more extreme.

"Are you not telling me something?" She asked, nudging her friend in the arm, causing her friend to jump and whelp a little.

Adrien turned and saw Marinette struggling very hard to keep it all inside, he had confidence in her. Marinette was Ladybug, she was always so confident when she was Ladybug, but now that she was just Marinette, Adrien could really tell the differences and how he couldn't really pinpoint them before. They both acted so different, but so did he and Cat Noir.

He immediately sighed in guilt and anger when he thought about the moment when his miraculous was taken away from him. His finger felt bare, his bag smelt cleaner **(A/N He had a spare in his locker)** , and there was no kwami floating next to his head demanding for cheese or wanting to get home and sleep.

As he sighed, he closed his locker and went out to look for Nino.

Meanwhile Marinette was trying all she could to hold her in, she assured Alya that nothing was going on and that they should talk about something else. But now Alya thought Marinette was okay with the whole Ladybug and Adrien situation, she decided to talk about it.

For the remainder of the school day, Marinette was under intense pressure, all she wanted was for everyone to know, or lock herself away so she could scream the truth and no one could hear her. She felt like she wasn't ready for this. It was still too much for her to take in.

Meanwhile Adrien kept it all inside, he wanted more than ever just to be at her side all the time, embracing her and just being with her. He needed someone that could truly understand everything he was going through, he wanted to talk to her more than ever about everything but he couldn't otherwise Nino and Alya would get suspicious.

So as the next break carried on, the pair shot glances at each other every now and then while with their friends, and they continued to do so well into their last class for the day until it was time to go home.

Unfortunately Adrien had forgotten that Nino usually waves him goodbye at this point and watches him leave in the car, he grew worried as soon as the bell rang and he remembered. He decided to make up a lie and make a run for it so Nino wouldn't see him.

"I have to leave asap, father's expecting me home in less than ten minutes!" He exclaimed, before zipping out of the classroom and running off.

Before Nino could even respond, Adrien was out the door. So the teen shrugged and turned to Alya and Marinette to comment on how Adrien had been acting.

"Wow, I'm so glad I don't have a dad like Adrien's." He commented, smirking as he pointed his thumb out the door.

Marinette knew exactly why he rushed out the door, he didn't want them to be seen together, but as she remembered correctly, he usually gets picked up and Nino's usually there with him. That's more likely the case why he left all so suddenly. The trio left together and out the front doors of the school to head home, now Marinette had to think of an excuse to not have Alay follow her, but luckily that was already taken care of.

"Well, I'll call you later Marinette. I'm going to hang out with Nino for the afternoon." She implied as she walked off towards Nino, waving at Marinette.

"Oh...um bye." Marinette called out, smiling nervously before she turned around and let out a sigh of relief.

She looked all over for Adrien but couldn't find her anywhere; Tikki popped her head out of Marinette's purse to talk to her owner.

"Where did Adrien go?" She asked.

Marinette looked around to double check her area but couldn't see him in sight; she grew worried as her frown became more obvious. She opened the door to the bakery and gasped when she saw who was talking with her parents.

"Adrien!?" She cried, causing her parents and Adrien to turn around.

"Oh, hey Marinette." Adrien greeted in a friendly tone, grinning. "Sorry I didn't ask you in class but I just asked your parents if I could stay the night."

She couldn't believe it, Adrien had so much confidence in her parents saying yes that he didn't even tell Marinette that he was going to ask them, better yet not let her ask them instead. By the looks of her parents' faces, it seemed like it was a yes.

Marinette wanted to know what kind of lie he gave them to make them say yes; she wanted to ask but felt like she should just ask Adrien privately. She approached her parents and Adrien, her legs shaking subtly.

"Yep, and it's more than okay with us." Tom, Marinette's father assured, having an arm wrapped around his wife Sabine.

"Oh...okay, well in that case...we'll be up in my room okay?" Marinette implied nervously as she pointed to her room upstairs.

Her parents nodded in agreement before the two teens went upstairs following one by the other, Tom and Sabine awed at the two, wishing that they were a couple. He was such an adorable boy to them.

Marinette closed the trap door of her room as soon as Adrien climbed in, she felt like asking him a million questions as to why he would do that without telling her, but she didn't want to be all demanding on him just for that. She decided to let him explain it all, so she sat in her desk chair and waited for the explanation.

"Okay look, as much as I love you carrying me onto your balcony...we can't do that every day." He explained, his arms in a motion, wanting Marinette to remain calm about his explanation. "So I asked your parents if we could have a study sleepover together." He implied, smiling as he sat on his temporary bed across the room.

The navy haired teen thought deeply about how Adrien was going about this, sure it was a great idea. But it was only for one night. "And how about the other nights?"

Adrien didn't respond, instead he stood up and grabbed Marinette by the hand pulling her in close to his chest as his expression turned from cute Adrien to flirtatious Cat Noir.

"I'm sure Ladybug will figure that out." He assured, raising his eyebrows suggestively at her before he knelt down and kissed her hand.

Marinette giggled and blushed at Adrien acting like Cat Noir around her, even though they were the same person. It was going to take some getting used to with knowing that Adrien was Cat Noir. She could see that Adrien was already used to it, or she couldn't see him still making the adjustments on the inside.

But they were going to work this out together, they had to find a way to stop Hawkmoth once and for all and get Adrien's miraculous back.

 **For some reason...after all that action I had in the previous chapters...this chapter feels a bit boring but that might just be me. I just wanted to show the struggle these two with have to go through in their everyday lives until they can work out a way to defeat Hawkmoth and so on.**

 **And you know...after that Volpina episode...it's actually given me more ideas for this story ^^ You'll have to wait and see what my menacing plans are...hehehe**


	24. Accumulating Ideas

**I'm really glad to see so many people enjoy reading this story; I appreciate all the feedback I get from it, from here and on DeviantART. So, I am disappointed that there won't be some new episodes for quite some time, but I've actually I haven't seen the season finale yet, but I've seen enough spoilers to know exactly what's going on. I just want this season to last a little longer for me. But I will see the season finale before I post the next chapter.**

 **So, after that last chapter, I felt like there wasn't much action but I guess that's okay because I need to have balance. Well, this story is far from over anyway. I actually thought after that reveal I'd end the story, but it still feels like I could keep going so I continued it XD Oh well, I know you guys don't mind. :)**

 **Well, more action will come soon, enjoy Chapter 24 of Revelations! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 24 – Accumulating Ideas**

As the afternoon carried on, Marinette's parents constantly came upstairs with freshly baked pastries and cookies. Marinette felt like keeping Adrien in her room a secret was a better idea so they wouldn't be disturbed all the time. But she understood that sometimes she just had to simply be honest with what she said.

So, after several interruptions from her parents and after eating half of the food offered to them, Marinette slouched in her chair and groaned as she held onto her stomach, full from the food her parents had given them.

"Ugh..." Marinette groaned. "Why can't my parents just leave me alone when I'm with you?" She exclaimed, remembering the last time when Max was turned into The Gamer.

Adrien looked with concern before stuffing his face with another delicious chocolate chip cookie, he grinned at Marinette as he scooted the seat closer to her. "I think it's because they really like me." He said with glee.

Marinette looked down in thought, she was glad that they liked him, but the way they looked at him was almost like they loved him so much that they'd adopt him if they could, he was like a precious cinnamon roll to them. Overall, she was happy that they liked him; she didn't know much about Adrien's family, only that his father is Gabriel, who is also Hawkmoth. She knew he wouldn't like her one bit now that he knew that she was Ladybug.

She always wondered about Adrien's mother, whom she assumed wasn't around often, but seeing that she was with him this entire time made it all the more shocking to her. She knew to some extent she was kind hearted, and Adrien was much more like her, meaning she was respectful, and fond of others.

Marinette snickered at Adrien in response, smirking at him as she could see the Cat Noir in him. It was still difficult to grasp the revelation, but being around Adrien more gave her a better sense of how he and Cat Noir were one and the same. In the beginning, she never thought Adrien would be someone as cheeky and flirtatious as Cat Noir, it was hard to picture Adrien doing that sort of thing, but now since she knew and he knew of her real identity, he was letting it slip through.

The navy haired teen cleared her throat, with her expression becoming more serious as she changed the subject. "Okay, so we need to find a way to get into your place and defeat Hawkmoth." She stated firmly, her eyebrows lowering in sympathy for Adrien as she said his father's alter ego.

Adrien lowered his head, his smile fading into a very apparent frown, he was disappointed in who his father truly was. He was feeling a whole range of negative emotions that almost made him want to scream it all out...anger, fury, sadness, regret, disappointment, neglect, and betrayal. But he forced them to hide away and never be expressed to Marinette; he didn't want to upset her more than his father upset him. He sighed as he looked up with Marinette, pressing his lips together firmly with a slow nod.

"What do you suggest?" He asked, leaning back in his chair.

Marinette looked down in thought, her kwami Tikki had been resting on top of her monitor and had stayed hidden from Marinette's parents, but had now come out of hiding. She could see Marinette thinking with intense focus, the kwami frowned in confusion before she looked over to Adrien, saddened by his expression.

"I don't really know...we don't want to fall into his trap..." She exclaimed, her face filled with worry.

Adrien knew that he and his father should have bonded more to get to know each other so he could know his tactics, but him being Hawkmoth all this time made him realise how much he didn't know about him, all he knew about his father was the revelation of what he had been hiding this whole time, and for the fact that he had been hiding his own mother away from him this entire time. His family was truly torn apart, he wished he could be with his mother but knew that where she was he couldn't without a plan and with the help of Ladybug.

What he truly wanted was for his family to reunite and become one again, but he knew that was never going to happen with how things were at the moment, he wasn't destined to be a happy ending, hence why he was given the power of bad luck. Although he hated that side effect the miraculous came with, he missed everything else that came with it. Adrien really wanted his miraculous back, he felt helpless without it, and if Ladybug wasn't at his side he truly wouldn't feel protected at all.

"I know, I wish I knew my father better, but seeing that he's Hawkmoth...I truly don't know who he is anymore." He ended with a sigh.

"We'll find a way." Tikki assured her.

He felt a light touch of a hand on his shoulder; he looked up as he could see the confidence of Ladybug flowing through Marinette as she leaned in and smiled at him. "Tikki's right, we just need some time to figure this out." She assured, before her expression turned saddened, feeling sympathetic for how much negativity was going on with Adrien's family. "And I am truly sorry about your father."

Adrien felt like he was going to burst out of anger, but when he looked up at Marinette, only a small growl of anger emitted and minor complaints came out of his mouth.

"If only I knew...I should've known. He was almost always so rude to me, controlling...strict...never spending actual time with me." He began to explain, realising the points and hints he missed. "I should've known when he took a great interest into my ring that he was hiding something..."

Marinette could see the struggle in his words and his eyes, acting on instinct; she shifted her chair closer and wrapped her arms around him. The blonde teen's emerald eyes widened from the sudden contact, but he relaxed his muscles as he gently wrapped his arms around her, feeling the warmth of the embrace.

"Thank you Marinette, I know you'll be there for me." He said, smiling as he closed his eyes peacefully.

Realising that she was hugging him, she let go as her shyness became present, her emotions still not fully willing to adapt to the massive change in her life. She fiddled with her fingers as she blushed a vibrant pink and looked to the side nervously, grinning sheepishly.

Tikki giggled at the scene, seeing Marinette act like her shy nervous self around her crush, it felt amusing.

Adrien smirked before showing love and care through his expression; he caressed Marinette's cheek to assure her that it was alright for her to hug him. He loved the physical contact with her, even before he found out she was Ladybug, he always felt more like a close friend when he touched her on the shoulders or her hands, something about it just made him feel happier to be around, plus it was to show just how nice he really is.

If only his father could act the same way.

In the state his father was in, there was no way he was ever going to be the same before he became Hawkmoth. After seeing just how much evil his own father had caused and how many times Ladybug came to certain doom, he knew that deep down he would never forgive his father.

But on the plus side, he was glad to have realised his mother was with him this entire time, and neither of them knew it up until recently, he only wished that his mother was here with him, so he could talk to her too. He loved talking to Marinette, but just speaking with his own mother and having her hold him in her arms would make him feel complete.

He sighed as he shrugged, looking down towards the ground. "I just wish my mother was here for me too."

Marinette felt his pain, although not having the experience; she could feel the pain burning inside him, making her tense with worry and concern. She could see in his eyes just how much he cared for his mother, she wished he didn't have to deal with all this pain, she felt all too lucky that her family was safe and his was utter chaos.

"I know, hopefully we can find her." Marinette assured, shrugging slightly with a small caring smile.

Adrien looked up at Marinette with a smile, it was ironic that not long ago he was the one giving her assurance, and now she was returning the favour. He could tell that she was slowly grasping the entirety of the situation.

"Yeah...but how are we going to get in to my father's place?"

Adrien felt more distant to his family when he said 'father's place' and not his own home where he lived, it felt like he could never live back at home again, and as much as he would love to stay with Marinette, he didn't want to be in her space all the time.

They both knew what the actual goal was; they didn't have to spell it out to each other. The bulk of the plan was to take away Hawkmoth's miraculous and return it back to Master Fu. That way most of the evil would be restored, however it was still uncertain how the situation with Adrien's family will unfold after the fact.

Marinette thought deeply, she could see Adrien was trying to think of ideas also to ease the pressure on her, even though she was the only one that still had her miraculous, he was going to help her defeat Hawkmoth somehow. They both knew that gunning straight towards the mansion was far too easy and risky, they would be caught within an instant, and the big problem was that neither of them knew what Hawkmoth's plans were to get to Ladybug's miraculous.

Although Ladybug had broken his staff, there was no doubt that it had become fully repaired after his next transformation back into Hawkmoth. So he was still able to create akumas like he was able to before, the most likely move he could make was infect someone with an akuma and make them go after Ladybug, she would be forced to come out of hiding and eventually Hawkmoth would get to her.

They worried themselves deeply at the thought, because since then it had been dead quiet, and although it had only been a day it was still a big amount of silence in between the revelation and present time. Tikki flew in between them, wanting to give the two deeply focused and frustrated teens some confidence about the situation and hint at some of her own ideas.

"You two working together will definitely be the best option." Tikki stated, grasping the pair's attention as they looked up. "And I know without Plagg you're not Cat Noir." She began to say, focusing her attention to Adrien. "But you can still be Cat Noir in a way without the miraculous."

Adrien and Marinette knew Tikki was getting at something; however they were both still having a difficult time figuring out how Adrien could be of use to the final fight if he didn't have his miraculous. Adrien knew for certainty that Ladybug can't help defend Adrien every time, even if she wanted to more than anything else; there would be the time where he was on his own.

He tried to understand Tikki's statement; he could still be Cat Noir without his miraculous. In a way it was true, personality wise, but Adrien couldn't think outside of that. Marinette was having the same struggle, until Adrien realised what Marinette's kwami meant.

"You mean my fencing skills would help?" Adrien suggested, his finger lightly touching his chin as he looked up at the kwami.

Marinette looked up in sudden realisation. Of course he done fencing...she thought to herself. That would definitely come in handy. She could see from Tikki's nod and her short hum in understanding meant that they were on the right track. She smiled, glad that her kwami was helping while also at the same time only giving enough help so that she and Adrien could figure the rest out on their own.

"Yep, but not just your fencing skills." Tikki implied with a wink and a grin, hoping that Adrien would understand what she truly meant.

With a raised eyebrow, Adrien looked at the kwami in utter confusion, unsure of what to make of what the kwami just said. But with the smack of reality, he lightly face palmed with a quick sigh as he realised what Tikki meant by not just fencing skills.

"My other skills with help me, of course!" He said, smiling with confidence, before he rested his palm against his forehead in embarrassment. "Why didn't I think of that before?" He whined softly, lowering his eyelids slightly before straightening his posture to look at Marinette.

Marinette smiled, glad that they were finally getting somewhere, thanks to the help of her kwami. Although it wouldn't be the same as Cat Noir's ultimate skills, Adrien would use all the skills he could to help out and help defeat Hawkmoth alongside Ladybug. It was something both she and Adrien should've thought up earlier, when Adrien was Cat Noir, he would in almost every battle use his fencing skills to battle the villains.

"Yes, we can use them to help with the fight!" Marinette claimed with determination, her hand forming into a tight fist of confidence. "Now we just need to –"

Before Marinette could complete her sentence, the trap door opened, causing Tikki to panic and then hide. Marinette's mother Sabine appeared, smiling brightly at the two of them. Marinette and Adrien could see that she wasn't carrying in any food with her this time and grew slightly confused.

"Dinner's almost ready, how about you two come on down and help out?" Sabine kindly suggested, smiling.

Marinette groaned, annoyed that the three of them were finally getting somewhere with figuring out how to defeat Hawkmoth when they suddenly got interrupted by her mother. Reluctantly, Marinette obliged, Adrien followed Marinette downstairs towards the kitchen and living room where the television was switched onto the news channel.

" _...Upcoming fashion week in North America, the world's top designers will be attending...including Paris's own top fashion designer Gabriel Agreste."_

Adrien and Marinette paused as they glued their eyes to the television screen, they gasped as they saw a small icon of Gabriel next to the reporter as she continued to talk on about the fashion week. The pair glanced at each other with the same thoughts, they knew that this was a ginormous problem for the both of them, but at the same time it was temporary relief from any possible battle.

So as dinner progressed, Adrien and Marinette kept those thoughts constantly on their mind, however Adrien was shifting to more positive thoughts while Marinette was starting to feel like this was a trap of some sort that Hawkmoth was planning, she couldn't be sure. Meanwhile, Adrien was hoping he would be able to go into his room and collect some of his things, he wouldn't stay to risk it, but he would go there to clean himself up a little.

He wasn't sure where his mother would be, but he seriously doubted that his father would leave his mother alone in the mansion; she was more than likely going to be taken with him to North America.

During dinner, Marinette's parents constantly asked Adrien a lot of questions about his life, most of them being where he's from, his family, friends, and how he came to meet Marinette. Adrien didn't tell them about his current relationship status, even if they asked he wouldn't say anything on he and Marinette being together now, in risk of Marinette's secret identity.

Adrien felt admired that Marinette's parents asked so many different questions, and the more questions he answered, the more fascinated Tom and Sabine grew. Marinette felt embarrassed, but at the same time pleased they were having a nice conversation. Adrien too, was really glad, he was happy that someone that was an adult liked talking to him and getting to know him.

"It's nice to have other parents to talk to." Adrien stated, before taking another bite-ful of his food.

Sabine and Tom raised an eyebrow in confusion, from what Adrien had told them before about his family, they seemed to be similar, but now Adrien was talking in a more different tone, as if he was neglected by his family. Adrien was only lying to them so he wouldn't overreact and let out all his negativity towards his father onto them. He really hated talking about his father now that he knew who he really was, but was more than willing to hold it back and let it out on his father when he had the chance.

"Oh? Why is that?" Sabine asked with concern, a hand resting slightly above her chest.

The blonde teen shrugged him response with a small smile. "It's nothing to be concerned about, don't worry. I'm just having some trust issues with my father at the moment." He explained truthfully.

Marinette could see where Adrien was going with this, he really was telling the truth, and he just wasn't telling the whole basis around why he was having trust issues with his father. But she was glad that he was calm and collected to talk about his father after everything that happened, but she knew he must be fighting really hard inside not to explode.

A little while after dinner, Tom bought in an actual mattress for Adrien to sleep on instead of what he slept on from the night before. Adrien admitted that it was rather different to his overly large bed, but didn't mind, as long as he could sleep on it, it was fine by him.

So after Tom left, both the teens took in a deep breath and sighed before looking at each other, both having the same thoughts about what they heard on television before.

"You what that fashion week means right?" Marinette reminded, her hands pressing firmly against her knees.

Adrien nodded with a smile of determination. "I can go to my place and get my things, and also I've been seeing my father always admiring that portrait of mother, I wonder if he's hiding anything there. We should check it out." Adrien explained, his mind filling up with thoughts of curiosity and excitement.

It wasn't exactly what Marinette was thinking but if Gabriel was truly going away, this was their chance to see if they could find anything hidden. But because Marinette had very high expectations when it came to trust, she worried that anything they could be looking for Gabriel may have taken with them.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take." Marinette stated firmly, smiling with determination, accepting Adrien's idea.

 **I found this chapter hard to budge out here and there, but that wasn't because I was sleepy, it was because my damn parents kept distracting me, but hey I managed to get it done in the end. So basically this chapter was setting up for more big stuff that's going to happen. I won't say what it is, but I think you can take the hint I added in the end there with the Volpina episode...;D**

 **See you Sunday/Monday for the next Chapter! ^^**


	25. Into Action

**Okay, I seriously love all this attention this story is getting, someone even on DeviantART wants to make fan art of this story! I love you guys so much! ^^ You're all amazing at supporting me through getting through each chapter and cheering me on, you have no idea how appreciated I feel from you guys. I've never had so much love for a story like this before! You guys are so awesome! :D**

 **So, thanking you guys aside...this story looks like it's slowly starting to head towards an ending but I'm not entirely sure yet. I initially wanted this story to end a while ago but then my finger slipped on the keyboard...XD Okay so, I left things off with a subtle idea of what's going to happen next, I've got a pretty good idea of how this big battle is going to go down...it's also got to do with some new information I found in the Volpina episode...but I'll let you guys figure that out. ;)**

 **Enjoy Chapter 25 of Revelations! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 25 – Into Action**

Although they didn't have much information on Gabriel's trip, they knew that his place would be deserted while he was gone; it was the ultimate trap for Hawkmoth. Adrien's whole idea of going back to his house to get his things was just a single chapter of the story, he always saw his father admiring that portrait of his mother on the wall, and although he did admit that his father probably missed Adrien's mother as much as he did, but he felt like he was around it too often for it to just be admiring the portrait.

Both Marinette and Adrien decided to take the risk of finding out more information about Gabriel's trip away from home to watch when he would leave his mansion. However neither of them was sure what day that would be. The only information they had was that for an entire week Gabriel would be in North America for fashion week.

So for the time being, they got as much information they could out of the news. As the night progressed, both Adrien and Marinette sat in front of Marinette's computer and watched the news for some time. Eventually, they got a better lead.

"Gabriel Agreste is scheduled to arrive in North America at around this coming Thursday." The news reporter announced, her papers in hand as she looked straight at the camera.

Marinette and Adrien looked at each other with determination; they both had the same ideas and nodded in silent agreement. They decided to wait out those days until then, it was going to be hard, especially for Marinette, she felt the pressure build on her. She couldn't let Adrien be too far away from her, not because they were inseparable but because of the possibility of his father coming after him when Adrien was defenceless. Sure, he had his fencing skills and karate skills but if Gabriel sent Adrien's own bodyguard after him, his skills wouldn't be a good match.

The next day was Tuesday, another difficult and restraining day was ahead for them, but Adrien was growing more relaxed with dating Marinette secretly. Of course he didn't like that he kept a secret from others, but this was a huge secret that could change everything, and of course his own father had kept a secret from him so it was a fair game.

Both teens were woken suddenly by a gentle knock on the trap door of Marinette's room; Marinette rubbed her eyes while Tikki stretched her tiny little arms as they slowly got out of bed. As she walked down the stairs to the trap door, she admired how Adrien slept; it was almost cat-like and it made her giggle at the adorable sight.

The trap door opened and Tom was there with breakfast in hand. "Morning you two, I figure since you two were most likely up studying all night I figured a nice already made breakfast for the two of you would be a refreshing start to the day."

Just then, Adrien turned and slowly opened his eyes, he moaned as he stretched out his arms and smelt the delicious scent of freshly made breakfast, not on a silver platter, but on a nice simple tray. There were two good sixed croissants with a glass of orange juice on the side, Tom handed the tray to his daughter before he left the two alone, taking a glance at the tired awoken Adrien with a smile before he closed the trap door.

Marinette placed the tray on her desk, she took off a piece of her own croissant and gave it to Tikki, and she knew she could simply wait until she was downstairs to give her a cookie but she was feeling positive and generous today. She didn't want to feel the burden of being the only superhero out there to stop Hawkmoth.

The balance had been broken, there was no way Ladybug could fight Hawkmoth on her own. Their top priority before defeating Hawkmoth and saving all of Paris was to get Adrien's miraculous back. They knew Hawkmoth wouldn't use the bad luck miraculous until he had the good luck miraculous also. It was foretold that one who wielded both the good and bad luck miraculouses would gain ultimate power. Even with this knowledge Adrien still grew anxious of what his father would do with his miraculous, he was sincerely worried that Marinette's would be taken, but knew that deep down they could fight them together.

He just wasn't entirely sure how.

So, after breakfast, they both got ready for school and headed off. They decided to walk out the door together otherwise Marinette's parents would get suspicious; Adrien clasped his hand with Marinette's causing her to jump slightly at the sudden touch as they walked to the crossing. Marinette blushed as she enjoyed having Adrien by her side, but she could see the school in the distance.

"Adrien...we can't, remember?" Marinette reminded, her eyes in the direction of the school.

Adrien's smile shortened by remained present as he gently unclasped his hand with hers, assuring her that he still wanted to keep it a secret. But sometimes he just couldn't help himself. He loved the fact that he had found who that girl was behind the mask, and now he didn't want to spend any time away from her.

As they walked along the crossing, Alya spotted the two and called out to Marinette, shouting a tease to the couple as they finished walking across the road. Marinette had an intense red blush across her cheeks as Adrien chuckled at Marinette's state of anxiety, sometimes it was just too adorable and he had to laugh at it.

"Marinette! Who's walking next to you?" She called out in a tease, smirking and folding her arms over her chest, as she saw her best friend's skin tone change to red in embarrassment.

"Alya!" Marinette cried, feeling her shy side from before she started dating Adrien come out. "Stop it!"

Adrien waved at Alya and smiled politely before he whipped out the rest of his breakfast, he knew it would be the perfect cover up in case someone like Alya were to get suspicious.

"Hey Alya, I just popped by the bakery for something to eat and ran into Marinette." He explained, taking a bite-ful of his croissant.

The girl with glasses raised an eyebrow as her hands rested firmly on her hips, she could definitely see that the boy had a love for baked goods; she could see that in the delightful response he had to his bite. "So I see, you love croissants, huh? Why don't you just ask someone at your place to make them?" She suggested, assuming with a place like Adrien's he could get his own.

Adrien covered his mouth slightly as he glanced at Marinette in slight worry before turning his focus to Alya. "Well, I like them fresh out the oven that's all." He ended with a small chuckle.

Then from the corner of his eye, Adrien saw his best friend Nino waving to him. He left the girls on their own as he approached his friend with a fist bump. Meanwhile Alya constantly nudged Marinette, teasing her about the scene she just saw.

"So...did you talk to him?" She asked, smirking at her nervous friend.

The navy haired teen fiddled with her fingers as her knees bent inwards in sudden nervousness. "Um...yes, maybe...I think...he...I don't know." She stuttered as she looked over to him as he and Nino walked on inside.

Alya chuckled in response, seeing that the scene was purely out of coincidence, she could see that Marinette had luck on her side for today. It was cute seeing them walking together, they were almost so close like it seemed like they were a couple in a relationship, but only knew it was Adrien just being his friendly self as usual. Someday she could picture the two of them in a relationship.

So they both walked inside and gathered their things for their first lesson. And as the day carried on, both Marinette and Adrien shot glances at each other every now and then, wanting to be around each other so badly but knew that questions would be asked and then things would have to be confessed.

They wanted to hold on to their secret for as long as they could, but if it felt like it was time, both Marinette and Adrien would confess, but for the time being it was a terrible time. Hawkmoth was out there looking for his son and Marinette. Adrien was quite surprised that his father hadn't sent anyone down to the school to get him yet, it was his second day back at school since it all happened and it was almost like nothing had changed.

During lunch break, Adrien went to the bathroom to wash his hands, but then he heard the sounds of banging against the door. It made him panic and quickly run into one of the toilets and hide, and then the door broke down onto the ground with force; he peeked through the gaps of the door to see his old bodyguard in front of what was once the door.

He was truly in trouble now, and Ladybug wasn't at his side, luckily before they left for school that morning they exchanged phone numbers so he quickly texted Marinette to help him. Meanwhile outside, Marinette was enjoying an apple when she felt her phone buzz, Alya was at her side checking out her own Ladyblog when she heard Marinette drop her apple and quickly run away.

"Hey, where are you going?" She called out, wondering why Marinette ran off all so suddenly.

Marinette stopped for a moment to respond to her confused friend. "Oh um... I left something at home I'll be back soon!" She replied, before continuing to run away.

As soon as Marinette found a good place to transform, Tikki flew out of her little purse and Marinette said the words. Tikki flew into her earrings and within a pink flash she was Ladybug. She swung on the top of the roof of the school before she made her way into the locker room without being seen and then she heard the sounds of Adrien's screams. Her heart raced as she saw Adrien's own bodyguard trying to catch him like a game of cat and mouse, but Adrien wasn't the cat.

"Hold on Adrien!" She cried, before she spun out her yoyo and wrapped it around the bodyguard, getting a firm grip of his body and then she flung it against the wall, knowing that he wasn't akumatised and not wanting to severely hurt someone who wasn't akumatised, in spite for them working for Hawkmoth/Gabriel.

She lifted Adrien up with a firm hand and then the two made a run for it. They were out in the open and everyone could see the two running together. Ladybug then wrapped an arm around Adrien before she swung out her yoyo and flew up towards the roof of the school just before Adrien's bodyguard was in plain sight.

"This is so awesome!" Alya cried in excitement, as she started to record the events on her phone.

Ladybug knew that she couldn't defeat someone who wasn't even possessed by an akuma; she could tell he wasn't possessed because he always looked that way. So afterwards she flew off, Adrien clang onto her as she created a diversion for the bodyguard.

After swinging from building to building for a good five to ten minutes with Adrien by her side, she headed back home, seeing that it was too dangerous for Adrien now. She landed on her balcony and transformed back after settling Adrien down.

"I'm afraid you'll have to stay here until we can stop Hawkmoth." She informed reluctantly, not wanting Adrien to be in a secluded place all the time.

Adrien let out a sigh before the pair headed into Marinette's room and Marinette locked the trap door in case her parents heard them. She didn't want Adrien to live in her room until Hawkmoth was defeated but it seemed like her only choice, there was nowhere else safe he could stay. If he were even allowed to stay at Nino's without any questions asked why, Gabriel knew Nino and could more than likely find out where he lived too.

"It's okay, I understand." Adrien admitted with a saddened expression, before sitting on the edge of the bed he was sleeping on. "I guess I'll just have to stay here then, but don't worry." He said, looking up at a guilt ridden Marinette with an assuring smile. "Your place isn't as bad as mine right now, and besides, I love the smell from downstairs." He added with a cheeky grin, hinting at the obvious occupation Marinette's parents worked as.

Marinette giggled with a hand lightly touching her lips, she let out a sigh as she looked out the window, now thinking about whether she should go back to school or not. Adrien could see the conflicted thoughts going on inside her mind; he got up and lightly pressed a hand on Marinette's shoulder with a small smile.

"I'll be fine Marinette, don't worry." He assured, turning her around with both his hands on her shoulders. "You go to school; I don't want you missing school because of me." He explained, a caring smile printed across his face.

Although he was homeschooled for most of his life, he didn't mind missing a few days for school, only if it was because of a serious situation like this. Marinette sighed as she looked down at the ground, she couldn't think of leaving Adrien alone and then when she returned home he wouldn't be there.

"I'm just worried he might find you..." She admitted, giving a worried and saddened look to her boyfriend.

Adrien caressed her chin before giving her a light peck on her lips. "I'll be fine. You go back to school."

Marinette felt her heart flutter as her cheeks flushed bright pink from the light peck on the lips, it was going to take a long time for her to completely get used to Adrien acting like this around her now, but she knew she would in time. For now every intimate moment they shared made Marinette feel bubbly and excited inside as her heart raced and a crimson blush defining her cheeks.

So she returned back to school right after lunch break ended, and as the school day went on without him, Adrien remained inside Marinette's room, trying to keep as quiet as possible while he checked out Marinette's room. He loved her aspiration to become a fashion designer; he could see that some of her designs were actually very interesting. Then, he came across one of her old sketch pads and flicked through, she truly had an amazing talent.

The rest of the school day was a long and worrying one for Marinette, she seriously wanted to go home and check on Adrien every single minute of the lesson, and she was even going to ask to go to the bathroom so she could quickly check on him, but from Adrien's assuring words she held back, trying to relax herself.

Later on, she returned home and was very relieved to see Adrien still in her room flicking through her designs, she blushed as she saw Adrien smiling and looking closely at each of her old fashion designs.

"Wow, you're truly an amazing fashion artist, I know you'll be doing a great job out of it too one day." He acknowledged, settling the book down as he looked up at Marinette.

Marinette thanked Adrien as she settled down, placing her bag next to her desk while Tikki flew out of Marinette's purse.

For the rest of the day, the two talked about Marinette's love of fashion, and how Adrien appreciated the work he did for his father before he found out who he really was, but was really inspired to become a fencing teacher or even a karate teacher, he felt like teaching others defence skills could really help out the community in defending themselves with him as their teacher.

The next day during breakfast, Adrien turned on Marinette's computer, smirking at the desktop screen with several pictures of himself before opening up the news on the internet. The first thing he saw was a jet with his father entering it along with his mother and his old bodyguard. He gasped at the sudden scene, and wanted to rush downstairs to tell Marinette, but instead he waited for her to come up and while he waited, he started to think more about his plan he was talking about with Marinette earlier on.

Not long later, Marinette returned upstairs, preparing to grab her clothes and get dressed in the bathroom before Adrien stopped her for her attention.

"Marinette, look." He called out, pointing to her computer screen.

Marinette turned to see Gabriel walk into an expensive private jet with a reporter stating that he was leaving today. She gasped as she dropped the clothes she was holding onto the floor. This was it; they could go over to the Agreste Mansion now that he wasn't there.

But Marinette had her suspicions that Gabriel may have left traps in his mansion in case she and Adrien were to go in there, her expression turned to concern as she grabbed her clothes off the floor. "I don't know Adrien...I like your idea it's just that...we don't know if your father set traps around your own home." She exclaimed, worried the plan wouldn't work.

"I know Marinette, but just trust me about this; I know the house as much as my father does...even if he was able to keep a whole section of it hidden from me." He assured, the last part of sentence he said in a lower and regretful tone. "But we at least need to try, I've always had suspicions about my father and now since he's been Hawkmoth all this time, there's no doubt he'd be hiding more stuff with him."

The navy haired teen sighed as she hugged her clothes tightly in worry. "But what if he took any of those other things he's hiding with him?" She asked, not wanting this plan to fail, but at the same time she wasn't sure if there was even going to be anything to find.

"We'll find out after school, okay?" He assured, kissing her cheek before he walked over to his clothes.

So later on Marinette left for school and made sure that Adrien had easy access to food while she was gone, in the meantime she tried to keep her focus on school and on Alya's conversations with her. It was difficult because her worries were still at an all time high because of the sudden change of events from the day before, but the confidence and assurance she could see in Adrien's eyes made her feel more relaxed and confident.

After school, she ran back home and saw Adrien preparing what he had for their plan. It wasn't long later that Marinette transformed into Ladybug and swung from building to building with Adrien holding onto her, he looked up at her constantly as the sun shone brightly against her face, making it almost seem like it was glowing as he gazed dreamily at her.

And then not a moment later, they made it to the front of the Agreste Mansion.

"You ready to do this?' Adrien asked, not wanting to get ahead of himself.

Ladybug took a deep breath as she stared at the closed doors of the mansion. "I'm ready, just be prepared for any traps." She warned, before breaking down the doors of the mansion with her yoyo.

 **Well, I'll end the chapter there, if I keep on writing this chapter will be hell long and I won't get enough sleep because of my finger slipping... XD So next Chapter is where some action could start to happen, who knows for sure? Well...I do for one thing ;D Next update should be around Wednesday/Thursday, see you all then for Chapter 26! ;)**


	26. New Power

**Man, I was seriously not thinking this story was going to be this long...just so you guys know I write these chapters in a single document...like all of them together as a single document...and the amount of pages it has...could just about make up a small novel! XD And the problem is...I don't know how much longer this story is going to be, but I assure you that I will warn you in time if the ending draws near. ;)**

 **So, I've been receiving a little confusion with some parts of the story, mainly in particular the previous chapter. I'll try to answer them through the story so it makes more sense what was going on...see this is why I don't skip days in the story because I miss crucial facts, that's why most of my stories nowadays are incredibly long because I try to include as much detail as possible. I do apologise for the confusion with the last chapter ^^;**

 **Enjoy Chapter 26 of Revelations! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 26 – New Power**

As far as Adrien and Ladybug could see, everything looked normal from the last time they were here, Ladybug stayed close to Adrien just to make sure he was well protected, she followed him to his room where he grabbed most of his things, and he was also able to get his fencing sword which he used for practice at home.

Ladybug looked around the room; she never got a real good chance to check out the whole of his room, even though she had been in it countless times before. It reminded her of the time when Adrien was in the shower and then Cat Noir showed up, then he disappeared again and Adrien reappeared. She smiled in amusement as she shook her head in how clueless she truly was.

"We were so clueless, I can't believe I didn't realise before. It was so obvious." Ladybug stated, while Adrien gathered the rest of his things.

Adrien looked up, raising an eyebrow in confusion, before seeing the smile of amusement on his lady's face. He chuckled as he zipped up his bag and agreed to Ladybug's comment. "I know." He replied, turning towards her. "And that time when you were on a secret mission...I should've known that my lady was always with me that entire time." He stated, smiling dreamily at Ladybug as he gazed into her eyes.

Ladybug felt her cheeks heat up, she was starting to like it every time he called her 'my lady', it sounded like they were truly meant for each other, and it showed just how much respect he had for her.

So far there had been no traps, but both Adrien and Ladybug kept their eyes peeled and their steps to a low quiet thud, the mansion was extremely quiet and it seemed unusually to Ladybug, she was starting to grow suspicious, but Adrien knew that the mansion was almost always like this, the only time it wasn't was when they had guests or an akuma attack in the mansion.

"Don't worry; the mansion's usually this quiet anyway." Adrien assured as Ladybug followed him to a room on the left.

Ladybug nodded in reply before Adrien slowly opened the door to the room, revealing the lovely golden painted portrait of Adrien's mother. She looked so different compared to how she looks now, they both thought. But they knew it was Hawkmoth's doing that changed her appearance. Adrien sighed with regret as he looked up at the painting, wishing he could see those lovely green eyes again.

"I bet he took her with him." Adrien assumed, his eyes tightly closed, his words turning bitter whenever he mentioned his father.

He looked back up at the painting, but then a loud thud was felt from afar. Adrien knew that thud felt all too familiar for it to be no one else other than his bodyguard the gorilla. Both he and Ladybug began to panic.

"Okay Adrien don't worry about it then, we've got what we need so let's go!" Ladybug cried, her face growing worried as she began to reach for her yoyo.

Another powerful thud was felt, but then this time the painting moved awkwardly, almost as if it was only half stuck to the wall. The teens turned to see it swinging back and forth like a hanging door, but with what seemed to be a safe in the wall behind it.

"Is that a safe?" Adrien asked, raising an eyebrow as he reached for it, only to have his arm tightly grabbed by Ladybug.

"There's no time!" She cried, her yoyo now spinning in order to protect the two of them. "We need to go now!"

The thuds were getting closer, it was no doubt that it was Adrien's old bodyguard still present in the mansion; even Ladybug could tell it was him, but he sounded more monstrous than before. They could only assume that he had been akumatised to better help protect the mansion.

"No...Wait." Adrien breathed, his hands reaching for the handle of the safe to reveal a password lock on it. It was then that he acted on instinct and thought of the first date he could remember that would fit into the number code.

The password denied access, so it wasn't the day of his mother's disappearance; he had to get in there. He knew that whatever was hiding back there could be something that could help them. However, he could be going to all this trouble for nothing, his father could have emptied the safe and brought whatever was in there along on his trip to North America. But this was the furthest he had gotten and he wasn't willing to give up now.

Ladybug desperately wanted the two of them to get out of there, all that concerned her now was Adrien's safety, she knew that if Hawkmoth got a hold of Adrien he would use his own son as bait to force her to hand over her miraculous, she could see it being the main reason why he wanted his son back.

"Adrien, your safety comes first. I don't want to lose you!"

As meaningful and heart wrenching Ladybug's words were, he had to ignore her and continue guessing the password. But then, the gorilla was at the door, double his size and he looked monstrous, he growled at the pair and darted straight towards them.

Ladybug felt strong conflicted feelings about the sudden situation presented before her, was she to grab Adrien and leave, or let him get into the safe and she fight the gorilla in the meantime? She didn't want to hurt Adrien's feelings by not letting his suspicions go unchecked, so she decided to go full force at the akumatised gorilla. His strength was ten times worse than before, as he managed to punch ladybug against the wall near the portrait. It cracked a window, and caused Adrien to gasp as he looked up at the gorilla in a panic as he started to dart straight towards him.

But then, the words clicked in his head. He knew what the password was, as soon as he pressed enter the gorilla's shadow engulfed his but then a grunt from Ladybug was heard as she smacked her yoyo at him, causing him to move back slightly and be distracted by her.

The password was correct; it was the date of when it all started, the day when he announced his presence as Hawkmoth to the world. He opened it and saw a photo of his mother and some books, but then he saw something slightly leaning against the old photograph of his mother, he quickly grabbed it right before he heard the gorilla torpedoing right towards him.

Adrien shoved the peacock-like jewel in his bag and jumped for safety, and then the gorilla bashed right through the wall, landing out the back on the mansion on the ground, causing a large and loud against the ground. Ladybug dashed for Adrien's arm and the two were out of there.

"Wait, aren't you going to de-evilise him?" He asked, knowing with every battle Ladybug would cleanse the akuma.

Ladybug panted as she ran through the front doors and began to swing her yoyo around to yank them to another building. "No use, he works for Hawkmoth. We defeat the source; we don't have to do anything else to save him. Unless he destroys all of Paris to find you, I'm not taking that risk." Ladybug explained, not turning her head as she held on tight as the yoyo yanked them metres into the air.

They made it out, but they both knew that the gorilla could be out to look for them, and even though Ladybug didn't want the gorilla to be destroying the whole city just to find her and Adrien, she couldn't help but be sceptical about her own words. There was no doubt that she would have to de-evilise him anyway. The important thing right now was to make sure Adrien was safe.

The two landed in an alleyway, several miles away from the mansion, Ladybug de-transformed while Adrien took a good look in his bag at all the things he brought.

"Okay I'm not sure what this is but it looks like a hair clip of some sort..." Adrien claimed, pulling out the peacock looking jewel before examining it. "I know this may sound weird but...it feels like I needed to get this...I don't know why though." He explained, gently placing it back in his bag.

Marinette furrowed her eyebrow in confusion, she could understand that it could have been his mother's and it was something that reminded him of her, but why did Adrien feel like he needed to grab it? That was what confused her the most, but she decided not to think about it too much so they walked back to Marinette's place, completely forgetting that Adrien was secretly living in Marinette's room until everything had been sorted out with his family, mainly Hawkmoth.

The pair walked on in and the two were greeted by two gasps and smiles of joy.

"Adrien, it's so nice to see you again." Sabine greeted, smiling pleasantly while working at the cashier.

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, smiling in reply, Marinette felt her face go red when she realised she couldn't make up an excuse this time as to why he was with her. It was going to be either the truth or a terrible lie, and Marinette simply hated lies, the only lies she didn't mind saying was that she wasn't Ladybug and that Adrien wasn't sleeping in her room.

"I don't think he can resist the super baker's super baking skills!" Tom bragged, striking a heroic pose.

Their navy haired daughter giggled and blushed in slight embarrassment at her father praising himself. "Dad..." She said in a slightly embarrassed but amused tone.

So instead of covering her lie that Adrien wasn't staying with them to make the hole be dug even deeper, Marinette only hoped that her parents didn't ask why until she was out of their site. She sighed in relief when both she and Adrien left the front room of the bakery and no questions were asked.

Shortly after going upstairs and to her room, Marinette sat on her chair in a pit of worry and anxiety, she worried so much that the villain she didn't de-evilise was going to be after Adrien and now he definitely couldn't leave the house. She sincerely hoped that the gorilla didn't follow them to her house otherwise Adrien would have no place to hide.

Meanwhile Adrien was on another chair with his bag on his lap, some of his belongings already settled on Marinette's desk, he decided to leave the hair clip until after he got most of everything else out because there was something about the hair clip that just made him want to grab it, and it felt like more than just a reminder of his mother, who was now quite possibly by his father's side, being his slave.

"Maybe I should go back out there and defeat that villain before he does anymore damage, but I don't want to leave your side." Marinette implied, letting her head drop slightly as Tikki wisped out of her purse with words of encouragement.

"Don't feel bad about yourself Marinette; I'm sure that guy didn't follow us. But I think it is best that we stop that akumatised man before he does any other sort of damage. Adrien will be fine." She assured, shining a smile at her miraculous holder.

Marinette smiled at Tikki's kind and thoughtful words. Ever since Tikki came into her life, she had given Marinette so much assurance and confidence to make her stand out more proudly as Ladybug, which made it all the more difficult for people to connect the dots between her and her civilian form.

"You're right, but where could he be now?" She asked, before Tikki immediately showed her the answer.

The red and black kwami wisped over to the keyboard and pressed a few keys before a window popped open to show the latest news broadcast on screen, both Adrien and Marinette looked up to see a news reporter reporting of large destruction going on over the other side of the city.

" _The Notre Dame has just been destroyed, authorities are doing all they can to fend off the monstrous man until the two heroes Ladybug and Cat Noir can save the day."_

Marinette sighed when she realised she needed Cat Noir for the battle, she always needed him. But now that Adrien didn't have his miraculous Cat Noir didn't exist anymore. She lifted her knees onto the chair and buried her head in between them, making Adrien look at her with concern.

"Marinette, I can go with you on this, I just won't be there as Cat Noir." He assured, resting a hand against Marinette's shoulder.

She looked up at her reassuring boyfriend, it seemed like he and Tikki were always the ones to give her assurance. She loved that about them, and knew that she could definitely do this, she was only worried that without Adrien's miraculous he couldn't do much, but the confidence he gave her to assure he would be fine made her feel more relaxed.

Tikki looked down at the hair clip in Adrien's hand, she gasped as she suddenly realised what that really was. "Adrien, how did you get that!?" She cried, reminding Adrien that she wasn't there as a kwami to see what was going on.

Adrien parted his lips as her furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, Marinette felt confused too by the sudden shock from her kwami. "Tikki, what are you talking about?" She asked, seeming clueless.

Adrien widened his eyes as his mind paused for a moment to realise what Tikki meant by how he managed to get the peacock hairclip, he couldn't believe it, even before he said it. "Is this a miraculous?" He asked in a breathy, shocked tone, causing Marinette to widen her eyes and gasp.

"A miraculous!?" Marinette cried.

Tikki grinned with joy as she hugged Adrien's cheek. "You found the peacock miraculous! The great guardian has been searching for it ever since it went inactive." Tikki explained, referring to Master Fu.

Adrien grew worried and confused once the kwami said 'inactive'. "What do you mean inactive?" He questioned the kwami, still confused but at the same time shocked by the sudden realisation hitting him.

"It's been inactive for a few years now, the great guardian has been looking for it ever since, he feared that the miraculous holder went missing or something."

Then, the room went silent as Adrien and Marinette stared at each other, both slowly processing the same information before Marinette breathed the words to Adrien, making it all so clearer to him.

"Your mother had this miraculous..."

He felt his heart stop for a moment, all this nonsense about his father being Hawkmoth made all the more sense now, aside from the reveal a few days earlier this was more conformation that there was a reason as to why Gabriel decided to become Hawkmoth. But they both knew they wouldn't get their facts one hundred percent straight.

Tikki gently touched the miraculous as well as Adrien's half closed hand over it, she looked up at him with a serious expression. "You need to activate it again."

Adrien suddenly jumped from the sudden task put before him. "What, me? But it doesn't belong to me! It belongs to-" He was cut off, a smiling Marinette finished his sentence.

"Your mother. Aside from your mother, you're the closest person to her that could wear this miraculous." Marinette implied with a smile, her hands pressing firmly against her knees.

Tikki nodded in agreement, they both turned their heads to focus on the unsure Adrien. He looked down at the hair pin; he knew it must have been for his mother because it was an accessory that not many guys would wear, if not at all. He looked up at a smiling Marinette and her smiling Tikki, eagerly waiting for him to put on the miraculous and see what happens, he sighed before he unpinned the back of it and then placed it on the side of his fringe.

Then, with a flash of blue light, a new kwami appeared. It was blue in colour, and had a peacock-like tail with shining aqua eyes that resembled a lot like Tikki's but were greener in colour. Tikki's smile widened while Marinette and Adrien gasped, Marinette was initially excited to see what would happen, but now she was amazed that it really was another miraculous.

The blue kwami slowly opened its eyes, taking in its surroundings before coming face to face with Adrien. It gasped with fright before it fell against Marinette's hands, it looked up and shrieked, but then it saw Tikki and flew up to her.

"Tikki, what is this? What is going on?" The kwami cried, panicking because she couldn't see her original miraculous holder.

"Relax Neera; this is just Adrien and Marinette." The ladybug kwami introduced with pride as she gestured over to Marinette and Adrien. "Adrien and Marinette, this is Neera."

The two teens waved and welcomed the kwami. Neera turned her head to Adrien, the resemblance was uncanny, he looked a lot like her miraculous holder, but he was wearing the hair pin and not she. Her original miraculous holder was nowhere in sight, this caused her to panic but to raise curious questions to the blonde teen.

"You seem familiar...would you happen to know who my original miraculous holder is?" She asked with worry.

Adrien nodded with a smile, it was a pleasant experience to happen to meet a new kwami just like how he met Plagg, but this one wasn't eating everything in sight. "I do, because I'm her son."

"I thought there was something familiar about you, you're Nathalie's son! Where is your mother? Why do you possess her miraculous and not her?" The blue kwami questioned the blonde teen, extremely worried where Nathalie was.

Both Adrien and Marinette looked down as they remembered where Nathalie was more likely to be. Tikki flew next to Neera with a saddened expression. "Hawkmoth took her." She stated, keeping the overall explanation simple and to the point.

"What!?"

 **Eh...it's a cliffhanger but to be honest not really a big one to me for some reason. Okay, I know you guys need lots of explanation and clarification with this new kwami I've introduced and so on. So basically, I'm going with the theory that Adrien's mother was the peacock miraculous holder, and I made it a hair pin because that isn't a type of miraculous jewel we haven't seen yet. Just to clarify the bee one is a hair clip not a pin. ;)**

 **Also, opinions on the new kwami? Also if you actually look up Neera, it's actually an Indian name but when translated to English it means peacock; see I did my research. ^^ I don't think I'll introduce all too much about the peacock kwami and its powers and so on, but I think with the ideas I have for later chapters, I might have to *spoilers***

 **And looks like I didn't clarify much about the gorilla scene with Ladybug and Adrien at school in the previous chapter, but don't worry I'll get to it. See you soon for the next Chapter! :D**


	27. Powers Into Action

**I was going to upload this on Sunday but then I started getting a cold Friday night and then pretty much all of Saturday I was nowhere near 100%, and I knew forcing myself wouldn't help. So even though it wasn't on purpose I still apologise because I wanted to upload this chapter sooner, but hey at least I'm not giving up on this story. :D**

 **Anyways, it's nice to see that many of you take a liking to me introducing the peacock miraculous into the story, just so you know it may come to a great importance a little later on in the story, just in case if you haven't figured out already. ;) So I feel like I need to make more progression with this story but at the same time I need to make sure I don't miss any crucial facts, I just don't want this story going on forever. Don't take it the wrong way; I'm just saying that all good things come to an end eventually. ;)**

 **Not saying the final chapter is near yet, enjoy Chapter 27 of Revelations! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 27 – Powers Into Action**

The peacock kwami was in utter shock, she had no idea what had been going on ever since the miraculous stopped being worn a few years ago, she stared almost blankly at Adrien before she realised what had to be done. Adrien looked at the kwami with confusion as the peacock kwami flew closer, her lips parted as she gently caressed the jewel she came out of.

"You have to use this; you're the only one that can use this for now." Neera stated, giving a firm look to the blonde teen.

Adrien wished he could hesitate but it seemed like the right thing to do, he wasn't chosen to be a holder of the peacock miraculous but instead the cat miraculous, but with what was at stake and how this miraculous belonged to his mother, there was no one else that could take control of the miraculous but him.

He gently caressed the pin, feeling its details while staring at the kwami and then briefly at Marinette and Tikki, he felt slightly embarrassed wearing something that's usually worn for girls, but if it was to help with the problem at hand he was willing to do anything to save Paris from Hawkmoth. His face grew with determination before he stood up with his fists clenched tightly, the confidence building inside of him before his eyes slowly closed, and he uttered the words to the peacock kwami.

"Neera, transform me."

With the command, the blue kwami zipped through the air in a sparkling blue hue and vanished into the hair pin. His clothes transformed into a blue and green suit, showing similarities to his Cat Noir suit but instead of cat features he had bird-like features, his shoes transformed into boots that were golden in colour, two peacock themed fans appeared around his hips while a tail of peacock feathers sprouted from behind, then a blue mask covered his eyes, his eyes still the same after the transformation unlike his Cat Noir form.

Marinette watched in awe, the transformation made Tikki feel surprised at the transformation but it made her feel relaxed and happy that Neera was going back into action after all these years. Marinette's eyes examined the new look the peacock kwami gave Adrien, her first response was that he looked so much different than when he was Cat Noir, instead of the black and semi green colour scheme it was all blue, green and gold.

The colour scheme compared to the mostly black Cat Noir outfit Adrien usually wore clashed with this new outfit, as now he was a bird themed miraculous holder instead of the cat, Adrien was the prey instead of the predator. Adrien looked down at himself, examining his hands mostly, seeing the blue suit cover over his hands and small ocean blue gloves covering his hands banded onto his wrist with a silver strap.

His first thoughts were the naked feeling on his finger that he was in a superhero form but he wasn't wearing his Cat Noir ring this time, it felt so different. Then he realised that he had feathers from behind, his immediate reaction was panic as he worried a ton of sneezes were heading his way, but for some reason they didn't make him sneeze at all. He huffed a puff of air in confusion as he raised an eyebrow, before Tikki floated towards his face with an explanation.

"Adrien, have you noticed that when you're a cat your ears and tail are fake but they still act the same way a cat's ears and tail would?" Tikki reminded, thinking back to when Adrien was Cat Noir.

Adrien remembered that his hearing was strongly enhanced when he was Cat Noir, his heightened hearing senses helped him and Ladybug out on several occasions, especially when they were trying to find Animan. He remembered all those times Ladybug pulled his tail that to some extent it caused a little pain, and it did move around at times depending on his mood, Tikki had a point with the feathers, but he wasn't sure how.

"Yeah...?" Adrien answered uncertainly.

Tikki cleared her throat, closing her eyes momentarily with content before explaining further. "The feathers work the same way, they're not real feathers but they act the same way." She added, gesturing to the green/blue feathers attached from behind.

"What do they do?" Marinette asked, lifting up from her seat as one of her hands rested under her chin in curiosity.

Adrien then noticed the pair of fans attached to a thin blue belt around his waist, but this belt didn't extend out to a cat's tail like his Cat Noir outfit. He touched the fans and ran his fingers across them, they seemed quite sharp and solid, not like a regular fan would be, and Adrien had an idea that they were a weapon much like Ladybug's yoyo and Cat Noir's baton, but he wondered how they would be used in battle.

"I don't know about that...you'll have to figure that out for yourself, or transform back and let Neera explain." The black and red kwami suggested.

Adrien looked down at himself, feeling a similar rush of excitement from when he first transformed into Cat Noir, but this time he knew what a miraculous and a kwami was, the only thing he didn't know were the extent of his powers, he also felt a hint of confusion and slight embarrassment being transformed into a costume so blue, although he didn't mind blue, this could be a little over the top for him.

Thinking about Tikki's suggestion, it traced his thoughts back to when he remembered Plagg trying to explain his powers and what he had to do to him, then he ignored Plagg's explaining and transformed without another word, not knowing the full extent of his powers and taking it for the excitement and freedom for once in his life.

He felt regretful that he done that, it caused half of which the city of Paris getting destroyed by an akuma that multiplied and akumatised so many people with the same powers. That day Ladybug blamed herself for the entire problem, but he knew to some degree it was his fault too, he didn't let his kwami explain the extent of his powers and what to do with the akuma once it had been released from the object that had been akumatised.

With a guilt ridden expression, Adrien pressed his lips together firmly before his lips parted and he commanded the kwami to release his transformation. "Neera, feathers off."

The blue kwami zoomed out with a flash of blue light as the feathers, the fans and the blue/green suit changed back into Adrien's regular clothes. Neera drooped a little in exhaustion but Marinette lifted her up gently with caution, ensuring that the little kwami was relieved from the transformation out of the hairpin.

"Sorry..." Neera exclaimed with one of her arms resting against the top of her head. "It's just been a long time without a miraculous holder." She added, looking at the others with a soft pant.

Adrien and Marinette grew confused as one of their eyebrows raised simultaneously at the kwami, unsure of why the transformation would exhaust the kwami so quickly after just a few years of not having been used.

"I don't understand..." Marinette said, her expression more worried than confused. "Tikki and Adrien's kwami must not have been used for a longer time than yours and how come you're more tired than they were?" She asked, before remembering she only knew how Tikki was after the first transformation wore off. "I mean...I know how Tikki was, but how was your kwami after you transformed back?"

The blonde teen sat back down, the same with Marinette as he looked down, a finger horizontally against his lips in thought as he thought back to when he zipped back home and then all of a sudden he transformed back into his normal self. He remembered that Plagg was too exhausted to even explain everything else about his powers to him, Plagg only parted his lips with the word cheese before he nearly passed out on the couch, but unfortunately Adrien couldn't fully realise what he said until it made all the more sense when Plagg was well enough to explain the rest of the facts to him.

"Plagg was exhausted, but I've picked up on how he acts...or acted." He explained, his words ending in remorse before he continued. "So he may have been over exaggerating a little but to some extent he did look exhausted." Adrien continued, his hands gesturing to better express his words.

Tikki looked at Neera with worry, before remembering why other kwamis got more exhausted than others. She turned to Marinette with widened eyes and a firm expression.

"Marinette, it's because my powers and Plagg's powers are the two key miraculouses that balance out everything, we are the most powerful miraculouses and thus we are a lot stronger than the others." Tikki exclaimed, before seeing the slight disgust in Marinette's face as she folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not saying that the other miraculouses are weak, it's only that the good and bad luck miraculouses are the most powerful ones of all."

Marinette looked up at Adrien in realisation, his thoughts processing the same information as he realised why Neera got so exhausted as compared to Tikki and Plagg. "So, it's because your powers are...less powerful than the good and bad luck ones?" He asked, wanting complete confirmation from the actual kwami, hoping that he didn't just insult the little kwami.

Neera nodded her head in confirmation, her eyes closed before opening as her lips parted for further explanation. "Yes, I am still a powerful kwami, much like the other two active kwamis out there, but our powers are more limited than the good luck and bad luck miraculouses."

"It makes more sense now." Adrien stated, looking back up at Marinette.

The navy haired teen nodded in reply, understanding a whole lot more about this kwami. She turned to look at the time before she realised that it was still a school day, she gasped as she jumped out from her chair in a sudden panic. "Oh no! I haven't been to school yet!" She cried, her hands clenching her hair tightly.

Adrien gasped as he saw the time also, it was after midday and Marinette had already missed half a school day, they had both completely forgotten that it was a school day, and although Adrien wasn't going to school anymore for his own safety, it still concerned him because now Marinette wasn't at school.

"You should go right away." Adrien claimed, before getting up from his chair, resting his hands on Marinette's tense shoulders. "Don't worry; I'll be here with Neera until you get back." He assured with a smile, before embracing the stressed teen with a warm hug.

Marinette felt her heart and muscles melt into the warm and gentle hug as she felt her body relax at his touch, she moaned softly as she started to feel more relaxed. After they parted from the hug, Marinette transformed into Ladybug then waved goodbye to Adrien, promising to be back straight after school and then she left her room.

It was lunch break and Alya was found hanging out with Nino as Nino couldn't find Adrien anywhere, Marinette zoomed towards the pair, who were smiling and chuckling at each other before expressions of concern printed over their faces as they heard the familiar running footsteps of Marinette approaching them

"Marinette? Where have you been girl?" Alya asked in deep worry, not knowing where she had been for most of the day, before smirking as she remembered her friend's sleeping habits. "Do not tell me you slept in till lunch time did you?"

Marinette was shaken by Alya's words but at the same time she looked at Alya with a grimace as she pouted her lips at her teasing best friend, then Nino broke the small laughter from Alya with raised concern of Adrien.

"Hey, have you seen Adrien Marinette?" I haven't seen him for the past two days; would you have any idea where he would be?" Nino questioned Marinette, his face filled with concern and worry for his best pal.

The navy haired teen bit her lower lip nervously as she glanced down for a quick moment before coming up with a good excuse, her cheeks almost hot red with evidence that she was hiding something, but Alya only took this as Marinette's infatuation with Adrien.

"Oh...um...I'm not really sure...m-maybe he caught a bug?" She assumed, raising her hand up in a hand gesture as she grinned nervously.

"That could be true, but hey remember that attack from two days ago? Adrien got taken away." Nino exclaimed, showing deep concern for his best friend.

Alya sighed in frustration, remember going over this topic from the day before. "Didn't we talk about this yesterday? We just have to assume that Ladybug rescued Adrien from that buff guy that picks Adrien up, he was obviously turned evil by an akuma so that's why Ladybug took him away from the school." Alya explained, going over exactly what she told him from yesterday, feeling annoyed that she had to repeat herself.

Marinette thought of Alya's words carefully, she gasped silently when she remembered Adrien's bodyguard going on the plane that morning with Gabriel onto the jet, but then afterwards at the Agreste mansion he was there, it made her panic as she realised that Hawkmoth may have just set up a trap, but the question was why wasn't he around when Ladybug and Adrien were in the Agreste Mansion, almost barricaded by the bodyguard.

It made her clench her teeth in worry, but she couldn't go back home now, Alya would get suspicious, and sooner or later her parents would be notified of her absence, she had to wait it out until the school day was over. She had to sit through a few more hours before she could go home to check on Adrien.

She sincerely felt worried and tense than before now, what if she and Adrien had walked right into Hawkmoth's trap and this was just the beginning of the plan? Marinette seriously wanted to do something because after seeing that footage on the news of the bodyguard going on the plane with Gabriel and then seeing the bodyguard a little while after the jet took off seemed all too suspicious, and now that she and Adrien knew who Hawkmoth really was, this was nothing other than suspicious, it couldn't be coincidental at all.

So for the rest of lunch break and the whole of the last lesson, Marinette tried to keep herself calm and collected while her thoughts raced with panic and her adrenaline levels rose ever time she imagined that giant akumatised bodyguard going after Adrien, she knew she had to de-evilise him as soon as possible, but now her civilian form came first. She didn't want to raise any suspicion as to why she was disappearing all the time, even though she disappeared a lot already, this would be more than that because she already missed over half of the school day.

Meanwhile back home, Adrien understood more and more about the peacock kwami and its special abilities, he was very interested in trying out the fans. He was shocked and slightly disappointed that it was only the good and bad luck miraculouses that had the special powers, he thought that all miraculouses shared a special power of some sort that was so powerful that it would drain the kwami's energy but alas it was only Ladybug and Cat Noir that could have those sorts of powers.

It made Adrien think back to being Cat Noir, his face full of remorse before Neera rested on his shoulder, feeling the utter need to support the saddened teen as he clenched his fist close to his chest, his other hand brushing against those fingers, and in most particularly the finger in which his miraculous would be on.

A single tear was shed from his eye before suddenly a large crash was heard from nearby the bakery. The powerful shake made Adrien fall off the chair and land face first into the ground, Neera managed to maintain her balance in the air before she could fall to the ground, she landed beside Adrien in concern for his sudden fall.

"Are you okay?" She asked, his head turning as he moaned in slight pain.

Adrien quickly stood back up, groaning a little more before he looked towards the window. "I'll be fine, what was that?" He asked, rushing to the window to look outside, his lips parted with a gasp as he realised who it was. "Oh no."

The gorilla turned his head to look directly at the window Adrien was looking out of, it caused Adrien's heart to race in sudden panic as he fell back in fear that his bodyguard saw him through the window. He was left without Ladybug and could get captured now, he decided to reach for his fencing sword, but somehow he knew that it wasn't going to be enough to defend himself.

Neera tugged at Adrien's shoulder, demanding her attention. "Adrien, I can help. I've told you everything now you can fight!" She exclaimed with determination, her face still remaining serious.

Adrien turned to the blue kwami, his lips pressed firmly together as he nodded with confidence and determination towards the kwami. "You're right. Neera, feather's out!" He commanded, his arms stretching out open.

The blue kwami zipped into the peacock hair clip and transformed him the exact same way as before, his clothes transforming into a blue/green suit, his shoes replaced by golden boots, gloves on each hand and two fans attached to his belt on both sides. An island blue coloured mask appeared across his face as Adrien stroke a pose and was ready to fight.

"Let's do this."

 **Oh God I'm sorry I have to leave you guys with this every single time... XD I know from the reviews/comments I get both on here and on deviantart that you guys hate it when I give you a cliffhanger, but oh boy do I have some newly made up plans for how the rest of this story is going to turn out.**

 **Now I have just finished my other fanfic that I've been working on since Halloween, I may or may not do three updates a week now but that depends on my upload schedule to deviantart. Oh well, looks like time will tell...next Chapter should be up around Wednesday/Thursday. See you then! ^^**


	28. Taken Away

**I've pretty much recovered from my cold so I feel great, but I've had lots of homework from my course pile up because I have a two week break the week after next week, and if I haven't finished the story by then, then maybe that two week break I'll finish this story. I don't want this story to end I promise! It's just that all great things come to an end eventually.**

 **The ending isn't like the next chapter or something, but as I think out the rest of the story of my head there isn't much left to go, and with me updating this story twice a week that'll end the story sooner. But don't give your hopes up I do have plans for other Ladybug Fanfics and some crossover ones with one of my other beloved TV shows :D**

 **Lately it's been real busy for me so I apologise for the slight delay on this chapter, but don't worry next chapter should be on time. ;) Also, I feel real lucky that the English dubbed episodes are being released in my country first, I feel special ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 28 – Taken Away**

Adrien's former bodyguard had been turn into a similar monster that compared to his first ever akuma battle with Stone Heart, only this one seemed to create heavier thuds with every step he took, plus he wasn't made of stone. Adrien stood perched on the railing of Marinette's balcony, he was already feeling the nature of being a bird, he had a curious thought as to if he could fly or not because Neera didn't mention anything about it, but he wasn't willing to test it at that moment.

He looked down at the monster, he glared at Adrien in his new form before he growled and let out a roar. He stomped over towards the building and started to climb it like a gorilla climbing the tallest tower in the city. Adrien leapt off the balcony and jumped to another roof, he was glad that Neera explained pretty much all the miraculous powers gave him beforehand, and somehow it was good timing too.

Everyone around the bakery had run off ages ago, ever since the monster appeared out of nowhere and started to look for Adrien. The blonde teen tried to think of a way to sneak up on him, but then remembered what he could do when he landed on the ground. He smirked at the thought before he took a giant leap off the roof of the building and landed softly against the ground, the feathers behind him slowing down his falling speed to almost slow and dainty, making Adrien feel slightly embarrassed as the way he fell gently down wasn't really for him.

He whipped out his fans, shaking them open as he held a fighting stance before running straight towards his akumatised old bodyguard and used the fans to smack him to the ground. The gorilla got up with a monstrous growl; Adrien held his ground before the gorilla was ought to grab him very quickly. He made a leap for it and jumped high up to the nearest roof.

Looking down at his fans, he remembered the other capability they had, so Adrien spun around on the spot and flung several sharp shards of the fan straight at the akumatised gorilla, pinning him to the ground by the torn clothes he wore. It was then that Adrien wondered where could the akuma be, he leapt down to approach the gorilla and find the object, but as he landed on the ground, he realised something.

He made a terrible mistake, if his old bodyguard was akumatised there was no way his father had left for fashion week in North America, he was still in Paris somewhere. Then his suspicions were confirmed when the signature glowing akuma outline formed across the gorilla's face.

Adrien said nothing, his anger starting to boil as fury and rage built up inside for how much his father had betrayed him after all these years and after all the destruction his own father had caused. The shards of the fans had returned back into their normal fan shape and were resting in Adrien's tightly gripped fists.

Remembering the other powers he had, he used his feathers from behind to give him a small window of flying before Adrien landed feet first into the face of his enemy, causing his akumatised old bodyguard to fall head first into the ground. Adrien smirked with pride, before quickly trying to analyse where the akuma might be, but unfortunately he wasn't able to spot anything before he was grabbed by the neck and flung across the street, his back hitting a solid brick wall, making him wince and groan in pain.

"I need Ladybug here..." He whispered as he felt the pain at its peak, getting back up.

But he knew well enough where Ladybug was and didn't want to disturb her, but he felt like he was already running out of options, and he was starting to piece together why his father was still in Paris and not on a plane. So Adrien leapt up to a building and lead the gorilla far away from the buildings and roads to lessen the damage the akumatised victim gave, on his way he made sure he went past the school so Marinette could get the idea of what was going on and come help.

During that same time, Marinette had finally let herself relax a little as she began to focus on her work more, with Alya on her side constantly whispering teases about Chloe being antsy about Adrien not being around, as well as the curious question to Nino about where he could be, but Nino had no idea, he only assumed that Adrien was going through some family trouble so he'd be back at school when it was all over.

Marinette sighed as she tapped her pencil lightly against her notebook, she wished Adrien's family wasn't so disconnected and in chaos, she wished that Adrien had a happy life with his family just like she does with her parents; Nino's words made her sadden as she lowered her eyes, her head resting in the palm of her hand.

"Don't worry girl, he'll be back soon." Alya assured in a whisper, pulling Marinette in slightly and patting her head.

She chuckled quietly in response for Alya's assurance, if only she knew, Marinette thought. But then, a loud thud was heard from outside, followed by countless other thuds as they sounded much like steps. Some students rushed to the window to see a horrifying monster that resembled a lot like a bodyguard of some sort, some grew scared and some grew excited.

"Oh no, what is that!?" Rose cried, her hands clenched over her mouth in worry.

"Looks to be a combination of the Hulk from the popular American comic brand Marvel along the superhero and super villain line as well as a muscular man with about sixty percent muscle mass." Max calculated, fixing up his glasses.

Alya rushed to window with worry and concern, before she whipped her phone out and started to film. "No way! I have to go outside to see this!" She exclaimed.

In all the meanwhile the teacher was trying to calm down the students and order them to return back to their seats, but then the shaking of the ground became more violent with each step the monster took made her think otherwise and start to panic.

"Okay everyone stay calm and stay as far away from the windows as possible, please stay inside!" She instructed in a slight panic.

But then some of the students gushed out the door, opening up an opportunity for Marinette to leave and transform. Luckily Alya had been stopped by the teacher while some other students were gushing out the door, so Marinette snuck out with a breeze. She ran to the girl's bathroom and Tikki came flying out of her purse in a hurry.

"We need to hurry Tikki, Adrien might be in danger!" Marinette exclaimed, her expression filled with worry for Adrien but determination to stop the villain. "Tikki, spots on!"

With a flash of pink light, Marinette transformed into Ladybug. She zipped out the nearest window and started to follow the monster's tracks. It wasn't long before she saw the cause of all the noise and ground shaking when she saw the same guy from earlier that day, she worried where Adrien would be and sincerely hoped that he still was at home in her room, but what she saw next made her heart beat fasten with panic.

Adrien was there, in front of the akumatised victim wearing the peacock miraculous and using it to fight the monster off. He had his fans out and was whizzing them around before he spun up into the air to make the individual parts of the fan split and pin his akumatised old bodyguard to the ground. This was when Ladybug stepped in.

"Adrien!" Ladybug cried, calling out for her boyfriend's attention. "It's too dangerous!"

"Don't worry Ladybug, remember who I once was. I can take it!" He shouted back in assurance with a smirk, before his fans retracted and the monster was on foot yet again. "But I wouldn't mind having your help though." He added, backing away from the monster with his fans in a fighting stance.

Ladybug didn't want Adrien fighting because she cared for him way too much, even if he used to be Cat Noir fighting alongside her it still worried her how he could fight using the peacock miraculous. She was unaware of the powers the peacock miraculous possessed, but knew she had to trust Adrien on this one, she could see that Adrien was mastering the fans really well, and his movements were becoming more like a bird. It reminded her of all the times his movements were cat like when he'd run hands and feet on the ground, sometimes actually meowing at the villain and even sitting like a cat on hard to reach places.

Now he was leaping all over the place like a bird, she hoped this didn't become permanent because she really preferred Adrien to be Cat Noir, even if that Cat Noir was always joking, teasing her and acting like a cat half the time. They were the same person; she just had to get accustomed to it until Adrien could get his ring and his kwami back.

Ladybug nodded before she whipped out her yoyo and spun it by her side, she made a run towards the akumatised victim and swung the yoyo around his legs before zooming underneath him and then ripping the rug from under him, causing him to fall and make the ground shake with his sudden fall. Adrien rushed to Ladybug's side, needing to explain exactly what was going on, but Ladybug spoke up first with a regretful expression.

"I knew I should have captured his akuma sooner, why did I leave him be?" She exclaimed, guilt filling her expression as she covered her face with her hand.

Adrien pressed his hands gently against his lady's shoulders. "Don't worry Ladybug, we all make mistakes." He assured her with a smile. "Now let's fight him together and capture his akuma."

His head sunk low when the thought of his father still being in town ran through his mind, but he shrugged it off and readied himself in a fighting stance. Ladybug felt more assured but still worried that Adrien might be hurt or captured, because this was the same man that attacked them that same morning, and she knew very well that he was after Adrien.

There was no way she was letting that happen, she felt like she knew Hawkmoth's plan inside and out. If he were to get his own son back, he would use him as bait to lure her in and give him her miraculous. Both she and Adrien knew that he didn't have a heart to care about anyone except himself, after all those akumas he released there was no way he was caring of others, or letting others do what they wanted to do. But there was something that bothered her the most, how come he didn't capture either of them when they were in the mansion?

It was a question that was constantly on her mind as she and Adrien fought the gorilla monster.

The gorilla lifted a giant piece of broken road and threw it at the duo, they both jumped away from each other to dodge it, they both had an arm balancing their weight against the ground as they knelt and looked up at their enemy. Ladybug had to think of a way to stop him plus finding where the akuma might be hidden, but right now there was nothing other than the torn clothes he was wearing, and there was nothing clenched in either of his hands like Stone Heart did, so she felt lost.

"Where could that akuma be?" She whispered to herself, narrowing her eyes on the gorilla monster.

She took out her yoyo, gripped it tightly before she took a giant leap over the monster and wrapped her yoyo around him. She pulled him back tightly, ensuring that the string remained tightened around him. Then Adrien stepped in and ran up to the monster, he searched as quickly and as carefully as he could to see what could be the object the akuma was in, but from what he could see there were only the torn clothes he was wearing.

More than anything he sincerely wanted his ring back, right then he wanted to use his cataclysm on the clothes to see if the akuma was actually hiding within his clothes, even though he wouldn't like to see the after effects of his old bodyguards clothes being removed, it was a risk he wanted to take if only he had his miraculous back.

"Can you see anything?" Ladybug asked, calling out to him.

The warm angered breath from the gorilla made Adrien sweat nervously as he began to see the string wrapped around him loosen, the monster gorilla growled under his breath as he fought his way through the wrapped yoyo string. Ladybug could feel him fighting back, Adrien stepped back with his fans in hand while Ladybug pulled as hard as she could to keep the string as tight as possible around him.

But his force was too strong, with more words from Hawkmoth through his mind, the monster gorilla built up enough anger to break free from the impenetrable yoyo string. Ladybug felt the force from him overwhelm hers as she was pulled in and then swung away to a nearby building, crashing against a wall, causing Adrien's heart to shatter and his heat boil in anger.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" He shouted angrily, as he ran up towards him with his fans spinning in hand.

Adrien leapt up into the air and combined the two fans into one, creating a larger and more powerful fan than the two on their own; it was then that he used the larger fan to smack the gorilla monster halfway down the street. Adrien knew he had to keep his anger low otherwise he could be leading himself into his father's trap. But he didn't want anyone hurting one of the two people he loved more than anyone else, even if one was already in his father's clutches, there was no way he was going to let Ladybug bow to his father's will.

The monster gorilla turned and growled at Adrien; on all fours it made a run towards Adrien. Adrien stood his ground, feeling his anger still at large he gripped his large fan tightly before bending down waiting for the enemy to come really close, and then once the monster gorilla had stepped onto his giant fan, Adrien lifted him off the ground and sent him flying into the building behind him. He heard a large crash and turned to see half the wall smashed in because of how he just threw him.

While the enemy recovered, Ladybug quickly made her way towards Adrien, panting as she was starting to feel the pain from being swung into a wall, her shoulder felt dislocated but she was still determined to fight. She wanted to use her lucky charm, but she wanted to be sure where the akuma was first.

"Did you see anything that could've been the object?" Ladybug asked, sincerely hoping Adrien found something.

"If there was I would've told you already." He implied, his face serious but sympathetic towards Ladybug.

Ladybug could feel Adrien growing angry at the monster gorilla, she could see in his emerald eyes that he was fighting to keep his anger built inside. He was much like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. She decided to use her lucky charm, having no choice in whether she and Adrien should keep fighting him or not. But before she could swing her yoyo up into the air, the gorilla came back at them with full force, this time fisting the ground and causing the entire ground around them to shake.

The duo started to lose their balance, Ladybug could feel her balance slipping as the pain from hitting the wall earlier started to dominate the strength she had left, but then she felt a hand grip hers tightly and lifted her back onto her two feet. The monster gorilla growled at the two before running at them in full force. Adrien readied himself as he was going to run full force towards him but then felt a tug of the feathers attached to him as Ladybug pulled him back.

"No." She stated firmly, looking up at the monster gorilla rapidly approaching them, her mind accumulating an idea."Follow me." She said, quickly swinging her yoyo to the nearest building.

Adrien quickly followed, using his back feathers to leap him high up into the air and land onto the roof of the building next to Ladybug. He knelt down and glared at his old akumatised bodyguard, he hated him for hurting Ladybug, but he fought long and hard to keep all that anger inside, he didn't want Ladybug to be around when his anger was at its peak.

"What do we do?" He asked, looking up at his lady. "Your lucky charm?" He suggested, raising an eyebrow underneath his mask.

Ladybug nodded with determination, she swung her arm into the air and said the magic words, her arm stung in pain while she waited for the lucky charm to be revealed. The lucky charm fell gently into her hands with two small thuds; she and Adrien looked at the lucky charm with utter confusion.

"Another pair of earrings? They look exactly like your ladybug ones!" He exclaimed, feeling an idea being accumulated, before Ladybug darted her eyes to accumulate a similar idea.

She saw her idea in the form of black and red polka dots painted across each of the things she needed to make her idea work. She felt her confidence thrive as her mouth widened in the form of a smile, she looked up at Adrien, seeing that he knew exactly what she was thinking. She gave the earrings to him before Adrien leapt off the building to grasp the monster gorilla's attention.

"Hey! You!" He yelled, getting the gorilla's full attention. "I have something you want." He stated, making sure the earrings were in full sight.

The familiar glow of Hawkmoth communicating through his pawn was seen before it vanished a moment later and the gorilla was running full speed towards Adrien. Adrien gripped the fake earrings tightly before sprinting in the opposite direction. Meanwhile Ladybug was perched high up waiting for the right moment to strike.

But then, the monster gorilla stopped. Ladybug parted her lips in confusion as she raised an eyebrow, wondering why the gorilla suddenly stopped. After not feeling anymore thuds from behind, Adrien turned to see the gorilla completely stopped, as if he had been frozen on the spot. Then the unthinkable happened, from the monster gorilla's mouth, thousands of duplicate akumas flew out and darted their way over to Adrien at blazing speed.

"Adrien, no!" Ladybug cried, her emotions taking control as she tried to make her way to Adrien as fast as she could.

Adrien gasped in a panic and ran as fast as he could away from the swarm of akumas, he leapt from building to building trying to detour the akumas but they were too smart and somehow knew Adrien's every move. Ladybug was more than ready to cleanse the duplicates, but as she swung out her yoyo to grab them, she saw the love of her life being engulfed by the purple butterflies.

"No!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face.

 **Okay kill me now, you guys aren't going to stop pestering me with this cliffhanger I can tell you that. Now again I do apologise for the slight delay, don't get worried if I don't update this on time twice every week, sometimes things will come up and get in the way, but don't worry I never leave my stories unfinished. ;)**

 **So since I uploaded this one late I'll try to upload Chapter 29 on Sunday instead of Monday but we'll see what the weekend brings me. Enjoy hanging off your seats in the meantime! ^^**


	29. A Ray of Hope

**Lol yep I was right, I got so many reviews on both here and deviantart about that last cliffhanger, so sorry for leaving you guys hanging like that, but be thankful there's only a couple day's break between these two chapters. :D This does mean that you could expect the next chapter on Wednesday but that does depend on whether I can get most of my homework done by then...**

 **Anyways, I was thinking of drawing Adrien in his peacock design so you guys get a visual concept on how he really looks like using the peacock miraculous, hehe I've even heard some people say they want to see fanart of Adrien dressed like that. Well, I might just make that happen! ^^**

 **So without any further delay, here's Chapter 29 of Revelations! :)**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 29 – A Ray of Hope**

The swarm of akumas whirled upwards, Adrien's footsteps no longer visible as Ladybug quickly scanned for his feet on the ground but could not see them, as the akumas travelled upwards towards the sky, she saw that Adrien had disappeared within the swarm of demon butterflies, her tears drenching her mask as her lips trembled in fear and her hands shook, Ladybug's body became weak with the sudden feeling of loss.

"Adrien…." She mumbled, her knees dropping to the ground.

Hawkmoth sensed the opportunity for Ladybug's miraculous to be taken in that very moment, but he had others plans in store for her. He ordered the gorilla monster to leave as the akumas flew back to the Agreste Mansion. Ladybug sat there on the ground, feeling like she had failed at her one true purpose. She wanted to do nothing more than to cry her heart out, desperately wanting to wake up from this horrible nightmare.

She had no idea what happened to him but she knew it wasn't good at all, her anger started to rise, but knew she had to keep her cool. Ladybug stood back up, wiping away her tears before staring off into the distance with an angered expression before she turned away and swung from building to building. She didn't say a word until her transformation was undone and Tikki was doing all she could to help Marinette feel better.

"Marinette...please say something." Tikki begged, her eyes full of sorrow.

Marinette had her face completely covered by her hands, self conscious about how puffed up and red she looked when she was upset. As soon as she got home and released her transformation she exploded with tears of regret and loss. She felt like she failed as Ladybug, she was on the urge of giving up, but for some reason she was still hanging onto her miraculous.

She was strong, and she was willing to fight back to save Adrien, but at the moment she felt weak, she needed time to figure this out. Her mind raced as thousands of possible ways to have saved Adrien flooded her mind, if only she had gotten there sooner, if only she and Adrien stayed side by side, if only she de-evilised the gorilla from the beginning.

All the problems led to her, thought full of deep regret she knew she wasn't going to give in to her guilt for what she done as Ladybug, she knew it was exactly what Hawkmoth wanted and there was no way she was letting that happen. Marinette just needed some time to herself to readjust her thoughts and think of a way to save Adrien and stop Hawkmoth.

Marinette felt like she and Adrien were being tricked from that very morning, why would Hawkmoth leave so much valuable information at home when he wasn't around? Why did he allow Adrien to grab that miraculous and the two escaped with it. Hawkmoth had won so far, but Marinette was nowhere near giving up. He was winning the battle, but she would win the war.

"I just...need some time to myself." She breathed through her sobs, revealing half of her face as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "I think it would be best that I stay home tomorrow..."

Tikki nodded, knowing the state that Marinette was in; there was no way she could keep a straight face while Adrien was now back with his father, who was also hers and Adrien's archenemy Hawkmoth. If Alya or Nino breathed a word about Adrien she'd break down in tears and then some explaining would be happening.

Later on, Marinette texted Alya to tell her that she wasn't feeling well, Alya responded with a tease but then saw the seriousness that Marinette responded with through her next text. Alya wished her well and promised to pass the message onto their teachers.

After she had taken out most of her guilt and sadness, she straightened herself up, put on a clean shirt and went downstairs for dinner. It was then that she told her parents she would be staying home tomorrow.

"What's wrong Marinette? Are you sick?" Sabine questioned with concern, rising from her seat to check Marinette's forehead.

Marinette gently pushed her mother's hand back towards her. "I just don't feel well that's all, I think it would be best that I stay home tomorrow and rest." She assured, looking down at her plate, giving a saddened, depressed look at her food as she thought about Adrien.

Sabine glanced at Tom with concern; Tom took a bite of his food before turning to his daughter. "Are you sure? Maybe you've just had a long day at school. Perhaps go straight to bed after dinner and see how you feel in the morning." Tom suggested, his expression brightening a little, hoping it was just a case of middle school fever.

"I'll stay home." Marinette answered firmly, straightening her posture slightly as she continued to eat.

So her parents agreed to let her stay home, this gave Marinette a chance to flesh out her emotions in greater detail and work out an exact plan to save Adrien and defeat Hawkmoth. She unfortunately had one huge problem though...and not knowing part of Hawkmoth's plan was the half of it. She didn't know if she could a get a grip on her emotions if Hawkmoth put them to the test, she didn't want her emotions to be her downfall.

Marinette loved Adrien more than anything else, she cared about so many people, but Adrien was number one on her list, she imagined her being first on Adrien's list too. They both loved each other, and she knew Adrien would fight back against Hawkmoth, but Marinette didn't know what to think now that Adrien had been taken by his father.

Tikki rested by Marinette's side as Marinette laid sprawled on her bed staring up at the ceiling in deep thought. Her eyes were slightly soaked from the tears earlier and her nose still sniffled, but she was able to concentrate as she thought into the future instead of her mistakes in the past. She knew she wouldn't get much thinking done tonight because of how huge a day it had been, but having tomorrow at home was the perfect opportunity. Marinette was determined to get Adrien back as soon as possible.

"We have to save Adrien tomorrow." Marinette stated with determination, her eyes never leaving the ceiling. "But I don't know the half of Hawkmoth's plan, I don't want my emotions to get the best of me and then he wins!" She cried, fearing the worst would happen as guilt flooded her body.

Marinette's kwami rested on the pillow beside her with a worried expression, wanting her miraculous holder to think positive about herself. "Marinette, you were chosen for a reason, and that reason was to help defeat Hawkmoth alongside Cat Noir. You and Adrien balance everything out." Tikki explained, trying to give her confidence.

The thoughts of Adrien and him being Cat Noir crashed into her mind, she was still trying to grasp that concept of her flirtatious and overconfident partner was the friendly and respectful Adrien. In a way she knew her kwami was helping, but also at the same time she was making her feel worse.

Marinette rolled to her side as she thought deeply about Tikki's words; she knew she was chosen for a reason, she had all the amazing qualities that suited being a superhero. She was brave, confident, strong, and unique. A small smile of happiness and hope crept against Marinette's lips as she turned her head to face Tikki.

"Thanks Tikki, I know I'm the right choice for this." She thanked, her words lingering towards negativity. "But how do I get control over my emotions? How will I defeat Hawkmoth without Adrien? We can't balance each other out..." Marinette explained, before realising the cause of the entire problem. "That's why we failed at defeating an akuma!" She cried, realising why Hawkmoth let them take the peacock miraculous.

Tikki knew in a way Marinette was right, but deep down whether Adrien was wearing the Cat Noir miraculous or not, he was chosen to be Cat Noir for a reason. Just like Ladybug, he was still the same person with or without the mask.

"It's not your fault." The kwami assured. "Hawkmoth caught you both by surprise, and there was no time for either of you to react." She explained, seeing Marinette bury her face into her pillow with guilt. "Marinette...Adrien's Cat Noir whether he's wearing the ring or not."

The facts were slowly becoming clearer, but yet Marinette still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that Adrien could help in some way even when he wasn't Cat Noir, she felt like she was lost and that she should know the answer, but with all the guilt from before and only new realising what Hawkmoth's intentions were, only made her think less about answers and more about guilt and actions that she should've taken.

But at the same time, she thought of what would've really happened in those case scenarios that she was regretful and guilty as hell for. Thinking logically, she would've saved Adrien then and there anyway, but if she had cleansed the akuma, it was obvious what would happen next.

"Maybe Hawkmoth would've akumatised the bodyguard again..." She stated, seeing that there was some good coming out of her presumably wrong actions. "Perhaps this was fate..." Marinette breathed, lifting her head up slightly to look at her kwami.

"It was fate, it happened and it wasn't your fault, even if in some way it was everyone makes mistakes Marinette...even superheroes. I remember a certain Cat telling you that right before you cleansed your first akuma." She informed with a wink.

Marinette's eyes widened and her lips parted in a gasp of realisation that Tikki could sense things even when she wasn't physically there. "I didn't know you could do that." Marinette exclaimed.

Her kwami floated back a little in reluctance, but admitted to the secret she had kept from Marinette since the first time Ladybug met Cat Noir. "I have been able to, I can sense other kwami's too when they're being used for negative energy, and who they're in possession with." She explained, before looking down with a saddened expression. "Unfortunately I had no idea who had taken possession of the butterfly miraculous up until you and Adrien found out together."

During Tikki's long explanation, Marinette felt shock, sadness, betrayal and hope.

"All this time...you knew who Cat Noir really was? Why didn't you tell me!?" Marinette cried, her feelings of betrayal becoming more apparent than the other emotions she felt in response to her kwami's explanation.

"Marinette, I couldn't tell for the same reason why you can't tell anyone you're Ladybug. It's to keep you safe and protected." Tikki explained, giving an assuring yet serious expression.

Marinette knew in some way that Tikki was right, it was for her own safety, and Adrien's too. But now that the truth was out Adrien's safety was at risk, Marinette's was at risk too. It was all Hawkmoth's fault, if neither of them had found out who each other truly were; Hawkmoth wouldn't know how to find Ladybug. But now Marinette knew that somehow Hawkmoth knew where Marinette lived and sent his pawn out to capture Adrien and set her up.

She knew the half of Hawkmoth's plan, but she didn't know the rest or how he was truly going to win. Marinette sincerely hoped that her emotions wouldn't get the best of her during their next encounter, but at the same time she didn't truly know what happened to Adrien. All that happened was that he vanished as the swarm of purple butterflies engulfed his body and he vanished into thin air as the butterflies flew away in a swarm.

Worst case scenario was that he was gone for good, but Marinette had confidence Hawkmoth wouldn't do that to his only son. The more likely case scenario was that the akumas took Adrien back to the Agreste mansion into Hawkmoth's lair or somewhere where Adrien couldn't escape.

She decided to sleep on it; hopefully her dreams would accumulate some ideas to help her fight against Hawkmoth the next day. It was definitely going to be a long day for her tomorrow, but she sincerely hoped that by the end of the day, everything would be okay. Adrien and her would be together, Hawkmoth would be defeated and Adrien would have his miraculous back.

Meanwhile in the Agreste mansion, Adrien was in a state of anger and depression, he was locked away, exactly like Marinette assumed. The peacock miraculous was taken away from him and there was nothing he could do but cry in silence as he whispered Marinette's name and her alter ego repeatedly.

He missed her so badly, he wished she was there. He didn't expect this to happen, but in a way he should've seen it coming. He didn't think when he fought without Ladybug, he knew he should've just called her as soon as he saw the gorilla out the window glaring at him, he shouldn't have waited, and he was beating himself up over it.

Adrien felt powerless, he had no one with him. Plagg was under his father's control, his mother was taken away by his father, and he only knew that Marinette would be deeply broken by what she saw. He wanted to wake up, no matter how many times he pinched himself he still wanted to believe this was a huge nightmare, he didn't know what he was going to do on his own, he had no powers, and no Ladybug and he couldn't even fence against his own father plus whatever other enemies Hawkmoth threw at him.

It felt impossible, but he had hope that Ladybug would come to save the day, and although the balance was broken, he knew Ladybug was strong, he trusted Marinette with his life, and he loved her, almost more than he loved his mother. He felt the confidence within him grow as he knew that very soon Ladybug would find a way to stop all of this.

The Agreste mansion was set to lockdown mode, and Nathalie who was now under Hawkmoth's full control was keeping an eye on the security systems at all times while Hawkmoth was up in his lair with Plagg by his side, eagerly and impatiently trying to persuade Plagg to use the bad luck powers for evil.

"I need this power Plagg...there's nothing you can do about it!" Hawkmoth snapped, almost slapping Plagg across the room. "You must give in, you belong to me now, and soon so will the Ladybug miraculous, and I will have ultimate power!"

Plagg glared angrily at what he certainly didn't call his new master, all he wanted was for the balance to be fixed and to have Nooroo safely returned back to Master Fu. The black cat kwami could see Hawkmoth with the peacock miraculous in hand, the kwami that possessed it now back into the jewel where it once came from. Hawkmoth's lips curled into an evil smile before he walked off, his mind developing an idea.

Nathalie looked up as she saw Hawkmoth enter the room; she remained monotone as he approached her with the peacock miraculous in hand. Hawkmoth undid he transformation and then placed the hair clip into a small section of his hair, after a small wave of embarrassment from wearing women's jewellery, he smiled cunningly at the peacock kwami that appeared before him.

Neera looked up and saw her original miraculous holder in front of her, but was startled by a cackle of evil laughter; she turned to see her miraculous being in the possession of someone else that wasn't Adrien. She panicked and quickly tried to make a fly for it, realising who was in possession of the miraculous, Plagg gasped as he realised that he had seen that miraculous before.

"You're not going anywhere!" Gabriel exclaimed, reaching out with his hand and snatching Neera into his strong firm hands.

The peacock kwami struggled to break free, but then felt the familiar touch out a miraculous around one of Gabriel's fingers, she then remembered what Adrien and Marinette told her about Adrien's true miraculous. She looked up at a worried yet shocked Plagg and had an idea.

"You will listen to me and only me. From now on you shall only be used for power. Someday I'll have all seven of the miraculouses and I will have ultimate power over the world!" Gabriel declared, reaching his hands up before he proceeded to take off the peacock miraculous.

Neera glanced at Plagg with a nod, before biting Gabriel's clenched hand, causing the evil man to yelp in pain as he shook off the kwami. But Neera held on tight to his right hand, grasping the miraculous on his finger and pulling at it hard before with a few more violent shakes Neera flung the miraculous at Plagg right before Gabriel took the peacock miraculous off his hair.

Plagg quickly grabbed it and flew as fast as he could away from Gabriel, he knew he couldn't save Neera now; he needed to get to Adrien and fast. He knew Gabriel would be on his tail but he knew Gabriel couldn't do much with his own butterfly miraculous.

But as he flew out of the room, he heard Gabriel crack with evil laughter before the sounds of the peacock miraculous being activated again were heard. Plagg grew intensely worried that Gabriel was somehow was going to use Neera's powers for evil.

Adrien was locked in his room, most of his belongings had been destroyed so he had nothing to do more than mope around on his bed, and the gorilla was guarding his room just outside. Not long later Plagg came zooming and caught the gorilla almost off guard, the monster gorilla swooped at him several times, however failing to catch Plagg with every swoop. Adrien lifted his head in confusion and hope from the sounds he was hearing outside his door, he assumed Ladybug had come to the rescue.

His smile widened before he heard no door opening, he hung his head low before he jumped at the sudden touch of something light in the palm of his hand. His emerald eyes widened as he realised what was in his hand and who was floating right in front of him.

"You ready to fight back?" Plagg asked, knowing the answer already.

Adrien smiled as his face grew with determination, extremely grateful that his miraculous was back in his possession and that Plagg was back. The blonde teen slipped the miraculous back onto his finger and stood up with pride, nodding in reply to Plagg.

"Plagg, claws out!"

 **Aha I actually ended a chapter like this near the beginning of this story, oh well it's just to keep you guys on your toes that's all ^^ So again, there's still a fair way to go until this story is officially over, but oh boy is there big stuff that's going to happen soon, the epic showdown is just around the corner!**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter, next chapter you can expect on either Wednesday or Thursday depending if I have the time, see you then! ;)**


	30. Back to Fight

**Okay I just want to give you guys a heads up on a couple of things before I get started on this Chapter. Firstly, if you are participating in the story cover contest the deadline is slowly approaching. If you win, I'll make a FanFiction of your choice, but it'll have to be a one-shot. I actually didn't state the prize other than it being the official cover... ^^;**

 **The other bit of news I have to talk about is that starting from this upcoming Sunday I will be going away on holidays for two weeks to catch up with some family and friends outside my city, I'm not saying this because I won't be able to update this story but because the next Chapter especially might be late so I'm just letting you guys know in advance. ;)**

 **Anything else you wanna ask me about the contest or updates feel free to ask. ^^ Now, on with the chapter! :D**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 30 – Back to Fight**

Back at Marinette's house, it was a little after midnight when suddenly Tikki felt vibrations radiating through her body. She saw that Marinette was still sound asleep, but the kwami gasped in astonishment and relief when she realised that Adrien had his miraculous back. Her smile widened with glee before she shook her head back to reality, to the reason why Cat Noir was calling for Ladybug.

Tikki violently shook Marinette to wake her up; Marinette groaned and waved her hand in response, her tiredness overwhelming every motion she made as she turned away from her kwami and faced the wall, tightening her eyes shut in tiredness and frustration.

"Not now Tikki..." She grumbled, her eyes grew heavy as she refused to open them, feeling the relaxation and warmth of her sleep welcoming her back.

Her kwami tugged at the covers, and pulled with all her strength to take them off as her antennae continued to buzz, she was glad Cat Noir had the patience for her, she sincerely hoped he wouldn't give up on calling her, but at the same time if he were to give up calling for Ladybug he could just as easily call Marinette.

"It's Cat Noir, it's Adrien Marinette!" Tikki cried, but as soon as Marinette reacted, the vibrating stopped.

Marinette's upper body flinched upwards, her hands balancing her body weight as her muscles tensed with sudden shock and a wave of relief. A small smile crept across her lips before she realised that Tikki had stopped buzzing, meaning Cat Noir wasn't calling her anymore. She sighed, hanging her head low before her phone started to vibrate, it startled her for a moment, but then she read whose name was on her phone and she smiled with relief and happiness as she swiped her phone to answer it.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Marinette cried, tears of happiness falling from her eyes.

Tikki rested on Marinette's shoulder as the teen wiped away her tears of relief and overwhelming happiness, she smiled gleefully at her, glad to see that her partner was back in action.

"Marinette I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have waited for you to come...I should've come straight for you." Cat Noir said apologetically, his free hand rubbing the back of his neck as he looked down with guilt, hating that he was the reason why they were in this mess.

Marinette shook her head as the guilt Adrien had was passed onto her too. "No Adrien, it's my fault. I should've cleansed the akuma from that man the first time we saw him." Marinette explained, feeling her tears turn to sadness as she lowered her head in guilt.

Adrien shook his head, as much as he wanted to admit it was all his fault there was no time for arguing over that, so he pulled his focus back to the main reason why he contacted Ladybug in the first place. "Look Marinette, I need your help. I don't know what Hawkmoth's doing next but it's definitely not good, I have no idea what's happened to the peacock miraculous and I have no idea what's going on with my mother either. Ladybug I need you here with me."

Tikki awed in response to the plead of Adrien's caring words to Marinette. The navy haired teen smiled and cupped her cheeks with delight, feeling the bubbly feeling fizzle in her stomach as Adrien said words to her that meant so much. Then Marinette gently shook her head to remain focused on the topic.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Marinette replied, preparing to hang up.

"I'm at the mansion, just so you know." He implied, making sure Ladybug knew where to go.

The navy haired girl nodded in reply with a smile of determination. Before her finger tapped the hang up switch, Marinette heard the words she had heard him speak before they knew who each other really were echoed from her phone. "I love you Marinette."

Marinette's heart skipped a beat as her heart began to flutter, she loved Adrien so much. She couldn't imagine being with anyone else except for him. She replied with those same words, knowing that he was smiling on the other side of the line. She hung up the phone sighing romantically as she repeated those words Adrien said to her in her head. She was getting more used to Adrien being her boyfriend now, she collapsed against her bed with a pleasant smile as she gently closed her eyes, only to be tugged by the collar of her pyjama shirt by her kwami.

"Marinette, we need to go!" Tikki exclaimed, prompting the transformation.

The teen shook her head before she nodded with determination, jumping down from the stairs and commanding her kwami to transform her. The darkened room was lit up vibrantly with shades of bright pink before they quick vanished in a flash. Not long later, Ladybug was on the roof, making her way to the Agreste Mansion, knowing exactly where it was and knew that there could just be an epic fight against Hawkmoth right around the corner.

She sincerely hoped it wouldn't turn out like the last two times, she wanted Hawkmoth to give the miraculous back and everyone would be fine. Ladybug hopped from building to building, her heart beat quickening with anxiety but excitement that she was going to see a now safe Adrien, who also had his miraculous back and was back in action. However at the same time, she grew worried and determined at the same time. She hoped that before the sun rose that everything would be back to normal and Hawkmoth will no longer be a problem.

About a minute or so later, Cat Noir was on the roof of the Agreste Mansion, keeping his eyes peeled for danger, if his father knew he'd escape he'd definitely be looking around for him. But then out of the corner of his eyes in the night he spotted a lovely black dotted ladybug girl who happened to be one of the most important people in his life. His lips curled into a smile as he breathed heavenly while following her movements with his eyes until she landed in front of him.

Tears of happiness swept over her before she pulled him in for a tight embrace, Cat Noir returned the hug but in a more gentle tone as he relaxed into the warmth of Ladybug's body. Even though it had only been hours, it felt like eons that they had been apart.

"I thought I lost you..." Ladybug whimpered under her breath.

Chat gently rubbed her back in assurance, so glad to see her again after being taken away from her. "Don't worry my lady, I'm okay." He assured, before pulling out of the hug slightly to look into those sparkling bluebell eyes.

"How did you get out?" She asked in curiosity; remember seeing from a quick glance that the security system was activated.

"Father never put a barricade on the front door; he always assumed that the front gate would be enough." He said in a cocky attitude, before his resentful feelings for his father returned.

A sudden shake of ground beneath them on the roof caused the pair to tumble on top of each other, the balance lost from their feet before they heard a familiar growling sound from below. The pair crawled to the edge of the roof and saw the monster gorilla on all fours stomping around looking for Adrien.

Ladybug wasn't going to let it pass her this time, she decided to go in for it and rid of the gorilla's akuma, but before she could say anything, Chat grabbed her arm, pulling her back slightly in concern.

"I don't think that'll be a great idea."

Ladybug raised an eyebrow, before he continued. "Do you see any sign of Hawkmoth?" He added.

She shook her head after checking back down there once more before her thoughts collected to a final conclusion, the same conclusion Chat was trying to tell her.

"It's bait to lure us in." She stated, smirking slightly.

Chat smiled at his lady, feeling delighted inside that sometimes they thought the exact same way. "Exactly." He replied, before kneeling back down again, keeping his eyes focused on the monster gorilla.

"So what do we do now?" Ladybug asked, hoping Chat would have some idea of what to do.

"We wait."

So with that, the pair sat there and waited. The monster gorilla was sniffing around, almost like he was part dog too, his growls got louder with every sniff he gave, seeming unbeknownst to Ladybug and Cat Noir's location. After a few more minutes of searching around, he decided to make a climb for the mansion to the roof; Ladybug and Cat Noir had exactly the same idea as they looked at each other with a determined nod.

While the monster gorilla angrily climbed up one part of the roof, Ladybug and Chat made their way towards the opposite side, their image being hidden behind the dome-like roof that presented itself as the highest part of the mansion. The two leapt down and quickly hid, feeling that from the growl they just heard from above meant the monster gorilla was getting close.

The two snuck around until they found a window, unfortunately the security system was still on, but Ladybug knew what Chat had to do. Chat nodded in a silent response before summoning his ultimate power. The power of destruction in his hand, he pressed it firmly against the protected window, not long before it deteriorated to reveal what lay inside.

The alarms went off; they knew they weren't going to get in any other way, the door was on the other side of the building and the gorilla was on their tail now. They heard the growling get closer before they heard a giant thud not too far from behind them. They both quickly climbed inside and ran all the way upstairs, wanting to get this over and done with as soon as they could.

"Hopefully we can take him down and this will be the end of it." Chat said as they ran, hints of negativity in tone as he looked over towards Ladybug.

Ladybug nodded in response, before she and Cat Noir reached the highest point they could reach. The alarms still sounding and red lights flashing everywhere, the pair tried all their best to stay hidden from the monster gorilla following them but at the same time find a way to get to where Hawkmoth was. But if they were completely honest they actually weren't absolutely sure he was going to be there but it was a long-shot.

"Over here!" Chat pointed out, pointing to what seemed to be another portrait of his mother.

The duo approach the portrait, Ladybug could see that there was something behind it. She firmly gripped the frame of the portrait before Chat helped her out, pulling at one side before revealing for what seemed to be a combination of buttons, but some more contrasting and apparent than the others, like the large red one for example, as well as a purple one around the same size.

"What is this? What do these buttons do?" Ladybug questioned, examining the buttons as Chat placed the portrait to the side before examining the buttons himself.

Without even saying anything, Chat quickly pressed the purple one, having a feeling that it done something. Ladybug cried out in panic as the button he just pressed might lead to somewhere or something bad. Then, they heard a door from the far left vanish and then it was completely transformed into a small capsule that seemed to go only one way: up.

"That's the way." Chat stated, pointing towards the capsule.

Ladybug and Cat Noir quickly ran over to it, the alarms now silenced but flashing red lights still bouncing from wall to wall as the pair squeezed into the capsule as they saw the monster gorilla following after them. He growled in anger and frustration as the two made their way up the tube.

Eventually, the pair made it to what appeared to be a darkened room; luckily Cat Noir could see in the dark. So Ladybug held onto him with caution as he scanned the room, not long before he saw sharp fan pieces darting towards his direction. He pulled Ladybug down to the ground as the fan pieces smacked against the wall behind them before retracting back to where they came from.

Chat was very hesitant to look up at who had the peacock miraculous and was using it now, but when the lights flickered on and an evil cackle of laughter echoed through the room, he and Ladybug had no choice but to look up at their enemies.

Hawkmoth stood there, crossing his arms with an evil grin as his staff rested in one of his hands, beside him was Nathalie back with her miraculous, but not using it for the intended purpose. Both Ladybug and Chat could see the controlled mind of Nathalie's through her emotion and expression, if she truly were to have her miraculous back she wouldn't be using it like this.

Having his mother use the peacock miraculous after so long made Chat feel excited and yet terrified, knowing this his mother could've been a great fighter wearing the peacock miraculous, so he stayed down with Ladybug to figure out a plan, but unfortunately his father interrupted the duo.

"How does it feel Ladybug...to almost lose the love of your life?" Hawkmoth questioned, raising an eyebrow underneath his mask, hinting at what lurked inside his staff.

Seeing the akuma begging for freedom within the top of Hawkmoth's staff caused Ladybug and Chat to panic in fear of what was going to happen when that akuma was released, but by judging on Hawkmoth's words, the akuma was possibly for one of them, but with their powers they felt immune, could they still outwit an akuma when they had powers against it?

"Nothing compared to how we're going to defeat you tonight!" Ladybug declared with a determined attitude, Chat sharing that same expression.

Hawkmoth growled at the pair, before commanding Nathalie to attack them more. Nathalie spun in the air, causing the individual sections of the two fans to separate and spin out in every direction, prompting the two teens to duck again in defence.

"What are we going to do? My mother's probably really good at being the peacock!" Chat cried in a whisper.

Ladybug glanced up at Nathalie, her individual fans pieces returning, interlacing her fingers as she struck a fighting pose, ready for another attack. "I think she's just here to make us weaker and more prone to losing our miraculous."

And at that moment, Cat Noir's ring started to beep. He was sure glad to have his miraculous back now, but was slightly annoyed that now he had a problem in about four minutes. Hawkmoth smirked as his eyes narrowed at the pair, success was just around the corner, and he could feel it.

Ladybug knew they didn't have much time, feeling the panic rise as her heartbeat quickened. She knew that once Adrien lost his transformation he didn't have much defence, despite what he could still do as just Adrien, it wasn't going to be enough against his own powerful parents.

"You take care of your mother, and then help me when you can to stop Hawkmoth." Ladybug insisted, her head nodding in determination as she looked at Chat before looking back at the villains before them.

"I'll do what I can." Chat replied, before standing up, grabbing his baton out to fight.

He felt extremely hesitant and reluctant to fight his own mother again, but this time she was wearing her old miraculous, so this time it was going to be different as Adrien knew some of the moves and what the peacock miraculous could do already, but he knew that his mother was more than likely more skilled than he was with it, however he did feel slightly relieved that he had a basic idea of what his own mother could do to him.

Meanwhile, Ladybug stood up, her fists clenched as she stared face to face with Hawkmoth. Her face with anger, his with certainty that he was going to win. With her yoyo in hand, she ran towards the evil man at full speed, Hawkmoth doing the same, but smiling as he ran with his staff in hand, preparing to release the akuma in his staff into the air.

Then, he stopped suddenly to raise his staff into the air, Ladybug stopped in her tracks and watched with confusion and curiosity, but then panic as she realised what the man had done. After releasing the akuma, it headed straight for her, Ladybug panicked as she tried to dodge it while at the same time fighting Hawkmoth to get his miraculous off him.

This was all getting too much to handle, Ladybug was trying to avoid an akuma that was doing nothing else but trying to akumatise her. Ladybug didn't even know for sure whether she was protected or unprotected like everyone else. Only time would tell once the akuma touched a part of her.

 **Okay this chapter is shorter in terms of word count, but I wanted to stretch out my words a little because I was in a slight hurry to get this done, I kinda left it late again tonight...but that's only because I had other things happening (It was my cousin's birthday) and getting ready for the 2 week trip away from home in two days... *sigh* I don't wanna go but at the same time I do if you know what I mean...-.-**

 **But anyways, hope you enjoyed yet another cliffhanger, this story is not actually going the way I planned it to be so I'm actually interested in what write next! :D Okay, so just a reminder that the next chapter might be late so I do apologise in advance if that does happen, so until then stay on your toes! ^^**


	31. Disappearance

**So I was going to do this yesterday but I was travelling for six hours on no sleep, I went for more than a day without sleep that yesterday was so tiring and just so much happening yesterday that I couldn't do this Chapter that day, oh well I did tell you guys in advance that this would happen, hopefully you guys are okay with the chapter being a little late. :)**

 **Well, looks like things are slowly starting to wrap themselves up, I actually ended the last chapter on too big of a cliffhanger that made it seem that it was important to the plot, but let me flesh that last part out a bit because I know some of you got confused by it. I do have an idea of how this final battle is going down, and yes this is the big fight. As much as I love this story I can't keep it going forever.**

 **Enjoy the epic (hopefully I can make it epic) final battle! ^^ Now I don't know how long the battle will last so you'll just have to wait and see ;)**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 31 – Disappearance**

The akuma was getting extremely close to Ladybug; she didn't know what would happen if it touched her, she felt that by Hawkmoth's confident expression that he knew it was nothing she wanted to happen. Hawkmoth backed up a little and sent a swam of butterflies right into Cat Noir's face, Chat was distracted for a moment in order to make Nathalie attack and pin him to the ground.

The butterflies flew away to reveal a trapped cat on the ground, Ladybug stopped fighting Hawkmoth for a moment and reacted to the scene Hawkmoth presented to her. Her lips parted as her eyebrows curled, printing the expression of sudden worry on her face. Hawkmoth smiled and narrowed his eyes at Ladybug, feeling Ladybug's negative emotions starting to rise; he knew that within a matter of time he would have what he wanted.

"Take his miraculous!" He ordered his wife.

Nathalie obeyed by kneeling down, on top of her son, her eyes focused on the ring and her expression dull with no emotion, but then she felt the blonde teen cat speak.

"Mother please...it's me. It's your son." Chat begged, tears in his eyes as his expression grew desperate and worried.

Ladybug remained focused on Hawkmoth, knowing his target to have both their miraculouses she remained focused on fighting Hawkmoth for his miraculous. He waved his staff around her, the akuma from before was still flying around Ladybug and somehow had not yet made contact with her. Ladybug paused for just a moment to catch her breath when the akuma landed on her hand, she gasped at first reaction but then grew confused before she heard Hawkmoth growl.

"I need to anger you more." He murmured, turning to Nathalie trying to fight Cat Noir's words. "Injure the boy; hurt him until he feels nothing but pain!" Hawkmoth ordered Nathalie, pointing his staff at Chat.

The heroine's eyes widened as her anger grew, but reasoning came foremost as she could see how much of a ruthless father he was to Adrien, he was willing to hurt his own son just to get what he wanted. Hawkmoth was that evil he didn't care about anyone else except himself. She glared at the man while he smirked at her, Ladybug turned to Chat and could see that Nathalie was fighting it on the inside, wanting to break free of Hawkmoth's control but at the same time felt obliged to do what he told her.

With every word Hawkmoth said to her, Nathalie grew more obliged and willing to do whatever Hawkmoth asked her to. Chat was trying all he could to convince her, but then his mind was drawn to the last resort and hoped it would work. He closed his eyes slowly and gently lowered it onto the hard cold ground, waiting for his transformation to be released and his miraculous in her hands before she would see the real face behind the mask.

"Cat Noir, no!" Ladybug cried, her arm reaching out to him, the other clenched around her yoyo.

Hawkmoth's smile widened as he saw the ring slowly being taken off his son's finger, before Ladybug began to swing her yoyo out towards the two, Hawkmoth extended his staff towards that direction, stopping the yoyo in its tracks and wrapping itself around the staff.

Ladybug gasped as she turned to the villain, he smirked at her before a flash of green light brightened up the room.

She turned to see Chat untransformed back into just Adrien, her mind flashed back for a quick moment to when that happened last time in front of her, her mind spun for a moment before she glared at Hawkmoth. With her yoyo still wrapped around his staff, Ladybug pulled on the staff and yanked it forward, causing Hawkmoth to fall to his knees and growl in anger.

"Enough is enough Hawkmoth!" She declared, grabbing the staff and breaking it against her thigh.

The akuma that was still sitting on her hand this entire time slowly began to disappear into her, Ladybug felt her mind being lost as her self control started to let go, she looked down to realise that the akuma that was sitting on her hand was slowly starting to sink into her, Hawkmoth cackled evilly in the background before she looked down at him, expecting him to explain exactly what was going on.

"The more negativity you feel, the more willing your emotions are into giving in to my akuma." He stated, getting back up to his feet.

Ladybug was falling for Hawkmoth's trap; she could feel her emotions taking control, the akuma falling into her skin. She couldn't look at the state that Adrien was in; she knew he was trying all he could to convince his own mother who he was. She closed her eyes tightly, hearing Hawkmoth's evil laughter in the background as she tried to calm herself down.

Hawkmoth glanced at his son and wife, only to see Nathalie fighting his control over her inside and Adrien doing all he could to break her free. His eyes shrunk and narrowed at the teen in anger and frustration as he approached the two, looking back at Ladybug, knowing exactly what he had to do.

"Your mother is nothing to you anymore, she is under my control and so are you!" He declared, his voice echoing loudly throughout the room, causing the flying butterflies to pause for a sudden moment.

The teen heroine kept her eyes closed, her hands clenched tightly over her ears as she tried to keep her negative emotions as far away from her as possible. Although she hated Hawkmoth hurting his own son and claiming over the entirety of Adrien's free will, she only thought happy thoughts.

Her first akuma capture, standing up to Chloe in class, kissing Adrien, actually being with Adrien, becoming friends with Alya, but most of all she cherished the moment when her thoughts towards Adrien changed drastically, causing her to start stuttering after every response he gave her, blushing every time he was near, hiding away when his emerald eyes looked towards her. She smiled peacefully before opening her eyes to see the akuma flying off from her hand, not feeling any negativity from Ladybug anymore.

Hawkmoth stood up from his family and turned to the heroine, knew that he shouldn't have turned his back from her. He knew he had to fight back, with his fists clenched, and the direction of his fist in place in his mind, he turned to Ladybug with a smirk and a glare.

"You will soon feel negative energy Ladybug." He claimed, his clenched fist extending outwards.

Ladybug was midway through successfully capturing the akuma when she heard Hawkmoth echo those words, her head turned for a split second only to see that Adrien was about to get brutally hurt. She could see from her boyfriend's expression that he had given up, the determination swept away from his face, but she could see his anger stain his face, he wanted it all to end just as much as she did.

"No!" Ladybug cried, her arm extending outwards, abandoning the akuma before it started to fly towards her.

As Hawkmoth extending his arm into the air, and started to quickly make its way towards his own son's face, his arm was gripped tightly by another hand that wasn't Ladybug's. "Don't touch my son!"

He turned his head towards the woman, her expression angered as her motherly instincts took over, her free will returning to her as she set Adrien free and kicked Hawkmoth towards the wall on the other side of the room. Adrien and Ladybug watched in awe as they saw Nathalie start to glow a bright blue before her eyes took on their permanent green, the blue contacts now gone, her hair went from black and red to a lavish blonde as it undid itself from the bun it was once in and was now in a neat plait resting against her shoulder.

"You...I don't know how you gained back control but you will do my bidding for me!" Hawkmoth demanded, his fist clenched after he stood back up.

Ladybug was in a state of awe before she heard her name being called to her.

"Ladybug, help me defeat him!" She exclaimed, her fans in hand as she struck a fighting pose.

Adrien's miraculous had been thrown back to him, he started to put his ring on and transform back into Cat Noir, Hawkmoth cried in defeat before his anger and determination rose greater than before. He watched as he was beginning to see that he was outmatched, his ideas running thin as he no longer had his staff or all of the three miraculouses standing before him in use.

But then out of nowhere the monster gorilla returned, smashing through the ceiling and kneeling down on all fours as he looked up at Hawkmoth with respect. This made Ladybug regret herself even more with not de-evilising him from the start, but she shook it off her mind as she clenched her yoyo tightly in her closed fist, narrowing her eyes at the akumatised victim presented before her.

"Get them." Hawkmoth ordered, nothing but seriousness and anger in his face.

Ladybug and Nathalie prepared for the battle in front of them, but from behind, they heard the words 'cataclysm' in Adrien's voice before everyone turned to see Cat Noir with his right hand smacking the ground, making the ground around his hand crack towards the monster gorilla. Nathalie and Ladybug quickly stepped back before the cracked floor couldn't take the weight of the gorilla and sunk him halfway through the floor.

Everyone could see that Hawkmoth was losing, and he was running out of options.

"It's over Hawkmoth, give us your miraculous!" Ladybug demanded, her yoyo spinning in one hand while the other pointing firmly at the villain.

Hawkmoth growled angrily at Ladybug before turning to his wife and son, the growling less apparent but still present. It was then that he closed his eyes and his entire body started to glow bright purple before it suddenly vanished.

Chat and Ladybug felt defeated again, not being able to stop Hawkmoth yet again. They both sighed in defeat as they lowered their heads; Nathalie looked at the two of them in concern but hope and determination. She let the two approach each other before she explained her idea.

"There is a way, he was talking earlier about how he would escape if it were to come to this."

Ladybug lifted her head in sudden response, Chat's cat ears perked up as he looked up at her mother in surprise and sudden hope that there still could be a chance today. She approached the duo as she placed her hands on their shoulders in assurance with a smile.

"If you follow my lead, we can find him in and defeat Hawkmoth!" She declared in a more determined tone, a smile of pride on her face as she clenched one of her fists with confidence.

In silence the two teens nodded, not long before the beeping of a ring was heard, Ladybug turned to the grunting monster gorilla still stuck halfway through the ground, it was then that she noticed he had a very small pin on the neck of his shirt that was a dark purple colour.

"Adrien, you feed your kwami first, I'll de-evilise him and then we'll be on our way." Ladybug assured, thinking that Nathalie was going to get a head start.

"I'll stay here, we all need to work together on this and I don't want to lose my son."

Chat's eyes filled with warm tears as he embraced his mother tightly; loving the warm embrace they shared. He loved it just as much as he loved hugging Ladybug this lovingly and tightly. And although the love was equally strong on both sides, this love was different; it was love for his family.

He loved having his mother back, but he knew he couldn't celebrate fully just yet; he had to defeat his father first and take the miraculous and give it back to the guardian of the miraculouses.

"Thanks mom." He whispered, burrowing his head further into her arms as he hugged tighter. "I love you."

"I love you too son."

Nathalie gently stroked Chat's messy blonde hair while Ladybug cleansed the akuma, and started to wonder what happened to the other akuma that she didn't finish cleansing before, she assumed it got away but she wasn't sure where it disappeared off to, Ladybug knew it was no good so they had to hurry fast.

Chat turned to Ladybug, loosening his arms wrapped around his mother. He nodded and obliged, letting go of his mother and de-transforming himself, causing the tired black cat kwami to escape the ring and collapse into Adrien's hands.

"All this de-transforming and re-transforming is killing me!" Plagg cried, an arm resting on his stomach in exhaustion.

"Adrien you got feed your kwami and we'll go on ahead. Please hurry." Ladybug exclaimed, her voice sounding shaky with worry.

The words 'no' echoed through the room before Nathalie knelt down slightly beside the ladybug teen/

"We all need to stay together; you and Adrien create the balance." She assured, giving her a warm smile.

Adrien proceeded to walk out the room with his kwami in hand, looking down at his tired kwami in assurance that he will get him the food he needed to get his energy back. Nathalie and Ladybug followed him downstairs, meanwhile Ladybug still wondered what Nathalie's plan would be, she knew she couldn't do anything except trust her, and she had no reason not to, she was Adrien's long lost mother who had just broken free yet again from Hawkmoth's control.

After they all made their way downstairs and into the kitchen, allowing Adrien's kwami to eat, Nathalie discussed to them the plan she had in mind, and was fully determined that this was going to work.

"Okay so I know exactly where he went, he whispered to himself earlier while I was still under his control." Nathalie started to explain, her lips curled downwards as she thought back to when she was being controlled. "If he's not at the place he whispered to himself then I have another place in mind. You two need to be fully prepared for that moment just in case." She explained, her tone of voice more serious.

Ladybug knew exactly where Nathalie was going with this, and she thought to herself that she could've thought about that idea too, only she was still letting her emotions adjust to the overall situation. "But where is he going then?" Ladybug asked, needing to know where Hawkmoth was going to be next.

Nathalie lowered her head, as if she had suddenly forgotten what she just explained to them, she hummed in thought before looking back up with an answer. "His first preference would be the top of the Eiffel Tower, where he could announce his newfound power to the world." She said, Adrien leaning in closer, while Plagg in the background made eating noises.

"And what about the other place?" Adrien asked with a hand raised in a gesture.

His mother leaned in closer towards her son with a serious expression still remaining apparent on her face. "Exactly how this happened in the first place." She hinted, her expression still remaining serious.

Ladybug didn't understand what Nathalie meant by that statement, and grew even more confused when Adrien suddenly realised what his mother was talking about. He gasped at the sudden realisation.

"The middle school!" He cried, understanding back to those events.

A little while later, Plagg floated up aside Adrien with a determined yet fully satisfied look on his face. "'I'm ready, let's do this...Again." He murmured to himself as he sighed.

Adrien nodded before flicking his ring up into the air and saying the words 'claws out', and within a matter of seconds Adrien yet again turned back into Cat Noir. He had a brief moment of memory from when the last time he had transformed so much in just one day, that day with Simon Says was tiring by the time it got to the end of that day.

"Let's go!" Ladybug said with determination, not long before Nathalie headed off first, leading the two teens towards the Eiffel tower, which was not very far from the Agreste Mansion.

Nathalie knew exactly where Hawkmoth would be, so she had Ladybug and Chat follow her all the way to the top of the Eiffel tower, where it was then that they found who they were looking for in one shot. They all knew that in some way it could have been a trap but they went for it with caution.

"It's over Hawkmoth." Ladybug stated firmly, slowly approaching the evil man with Cat Noir and Nathalie by her side.

"Give us your miraculous!" Chat demanded, his baton gripped tightly in one hand as the other pointed at his father.

Hawkmoth cackled with laugher as he turned around, revealing something on his face that they weren't expecting to see at all. Across Hawkmoth's face was a large purple akuma, fluttering its wings slightly before they vanished and then Hawkmoth vanished a few seconds afterwards.

His laughter echoed until he was out of sight. Ladybug and Chat grew worried that Hawkmoth would just bounce from place to place, but neither of them knew the amount of information that Nathalie had. She jumped onto the railing and perched herself like a bird as she kept her eyes peeled for the school. Not a moment later was a bright flash of purple light very close to the middle school.

"Let's go." Nathalie said this time, leading the way to the middle school.

 **Okay to be honest I felt like this Chapter was kind of a dud but I'm pretty sure it's just me because I got REALLY tired halfway through this and I didn't want to stop there. I want to upload this chapter as soon as I can, and I know my sleep is important too but I just love receiving all that amazing feedback from you guys. ^^**

 **Also, if some things from the over contest aren't clear, here's the link with all the details.** **journal/Story-Cover-Contest-Official-Details-603804343**

 **See you all in a few days for the next Chapter! ;D**


	32. Hope Restored

**Ugh I am really finding it harder to concentrate will all my family around me twenty four seven, it drives me insane sometimes to the point where I can't think. Sometimes being away from home actually sucks. But anyways, I think there will be 2 or 3 chapters left before the story is completed, I know it's a bit of a bummer but I'm sure you guys understand. Besides, I have other fanfic ideas that I can't wait to do! ^^**

 **I haven't got much left planned for this story, and I don't want to slow the progression of the plot either just to give you guys more from this story. Oh, and no sequel in case you were wondering. I'm trying not to do sequels to any of my stories lately because to me they seem like the creator (or in this case writer) is using old ideas and now creating new ones.**

 **So, here's the next Chapter of Revelations. Enjoy! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 32 – Hope Restored**

The trio made their way towards the school, Adrien worried that Hawkmoth might have a backup plan that no one else knew about, it made him feel more anxious the more he thought about it. His mother saw the worry in his eyes and assured him that things will all work out in the end. Ladybug on the other hand was trying to remain calm, have soothing thoughts but at the same time unleash enough anger to defeat Hawkmoth; she didn't want her emotions to be the cause of her actions.

As they arrived at the school, they looked around with caution, the eerie silence making their hearts race as they looked around each corner to look for Hawkmoth. They made their way to the classrooms but nothing there, however once they returned back outside they saw a shadowy figure in the distance, since it was dark the dark figure looked like a silhouette in the night.

Cat Noir and Ladybug held their weapons by their side, while Nathalie placed her fans by her side with content; Chat looked up at his mother in confusion, worried as to why she placed her weapons away.

"Mom, why aren't you holding your fans?" He asked, gripping his baton with both hands.

Nathalie turned her head to her son, determination and seriousness in her face but with a small smile of assurance to give him certainty that what she was doing was alright and she was aware of the consequences. Ladybug slowly moved closer to Cat Noir while Nathalie stepped forward, her eyes and head facing the ground as she took one slow step at a time.

Ladybug looked at Chat with a confused look, but he shrugged in response, not exactly knowing what his mother was doing. He could see his father in the distance; however it was difficult to make out whether he was transformed still or not.

It was then that Nathalie realised Hawkmoth was not transformed, he was plain old Gabriel with his back turned to all three of them, his hands clenched tightly by his side, the butterfly kwami nowhere in sight. Nathalie took one deep breath before she stopped walking and looked up at her husband with his back turned to her.

"Gabriel...let's start over please. I never wanted any of this to happen." She pleaded, her hand reaching out slightly, the other trying to force her tears from becoming worse.

There was no response; however Nathalie could see his hands move slightly. Chat and Ladybug started to move forward but then Nathalie moved her hand back in motion to the teens to stay there. The two teens were uncertain of where Nathalie was going with this but Adrien had a small idea, the sound of his mother sobbing made his heart break, it was one of the last things he wanted to hear.

"I don't like hearing her cry..." Chat whispered, lowering his baton a little as he looked over at his girlfriend.

Ladybug loosened her grip around her yoyo and tightly hugged him in comfort and support, knowing how much he had been going through with his family. Chat widened his eyes slightly before he felt himself relax into the hug, slowly closing his eyes and smiling as Ladybug returned the same smile.

"Please, I know somewhere deep down you're the man I fell in love with and started a family."

Gabriel's fists tightened even more before he turned, his face full of anger as his full set of teeth were showing grinding themselves together, his eyes narrowed at Nathalie before the kwami revealed himself from Gabriel's coat. Nathalie gasped as she saw the little kwami, his body language reading that he wanted to break free. She knew there was more to this than getting the miraculous back to the great guardian, but she had to get deeper into the problem to solve it.

However the look on Gabriel's face made all that hope the less certain, and his next action made everyone gasp in shock as he tightly grabbed the butterfly kwami, risking to destroy his own kwami just to get what he wanted.

"You hand me your miraculouses or I destroy my own, then no one gets my miraculous!" He declared, his eyes twitching in anger.

Ladybug and Chat ran towards him, Nathalie stopped them when they reached the same distance as her, she didn't want them to make the scene any worse, but understanding why they were running head first towards him. The teens stopped and looked up with worry as Nathalie kept her eyes focused on the small kwami yelping as Gabriel tightened his grip around the kwami.

It was then that Nathalie gave Ladybug and Chat a signal of direction before she started to run straight towards him, meanwhile Cat Noir and Ladybug ran opposite directions towards the left and right of where they once stood, and they made their way towards Gabriel from a different angle. Gabriel looked around him and saw exactly what they were doing; it was then that he squeezed the kwami as hard as he could before extending out his arm from behind and releasing the kwami with much force towards the other end of the courtyard.

With her motherly instincts stopping her, Nathalie stopped and ran straight over to the poor hurt kwami, meanwhile Ladybug and Chat had their weapons out and were waving them around ready for battle, but their minds felt more at ease now that Gabriel couldn't transform into Hawkmoth. Ladybug narrowed her eyes at the man as she and Chat ran towards him, closer and closer before suddenly Gabriel took the upper hand and kicked both teens to the ground.

Meanwhile Nathalie had the injured butterfly kwami in her hands, angered by why her husband would do such a thing. She caressed the kwami with two of her fingers as she stood up and turned to the scene presented before her. She cupped the kwami gently in her hands before she ran over, wanting to reason more with Gabriel.

"Gabriel this isn't you, please stop all this and let's all be a family again. You have no reason to be like this." She exclaimed, sadness defining her expression with the butterfly kwami still cupped in her hands.

The man growled at her before he drew a weapon from his pocket, the object turning into a long butterfly themed sword. He swooped at the two superheroes that were getting back up from the kick; he kicked his own son to the ground, while making Ladybug wrap her yoyo around his sword. He pulled hard, his eyes focused on his wife that did nothing but look at him with deep sadness in her emerald green eyes. His strength somehow stronger than Ladybug's, Gabriel managed to pull the yoyo from her hands and send it flying away.

"Now you have nothing! Hand over your miraculous!" He demanding, pointing the sword towards her.

Chat felt the anger beat him up inside, almost ready to burst. But he held it in more as he used his fallen body to his advantage by tripping his father to the ground.

"No one hurts her!" Chat stated, his face full of anger and hate.

Gabriel stood back up, his sword drawn and the two prepared to fight each other. Meanwhile Ladybug ran to reach for her yoyo, but Nathalie stopped her, her eyes widened with concern for the injured kwami in her hands.

"We need to help this little guy, Gabriel hurt him terribly."

Ladybug placed a hand on Nathalie's shoulder in assurance. "Don't worry; when this is all over we'll go straight towards the great guardian to help him." She assured, before letting go and running over towards her yoyo.

Before she even got to her yoyo, a crying scream that sounded a lot like Adrien pierced through her ears and straight through her heart. She turned to see with only the moonlight casting any sort of light to see Chat holding his baton by his side but the other hand tightly gripped around his torso as he grunted in pain.

Nathalie's heart shattered as she saw her own son with a long horizontal cut against his chest, she was truly angry now, she thought she could get through to Gabriel but she could see that she couldn't. Ladybug's anger grew, she never though Gabriel could ever be this dark and evil, risking the pain of his son to get what he wanted. Nathalie wanted to know if there was any hope left for her husband, but with the stinging sounds of her own son in pain made all that hope fade away, it wasn't until what Gabriel said next that made her think otherwise.

"You know nothing about what I went through! I've now hurt my only son just to get what I wanted! All I want is the ultimate power, and none of you are giving it to me!" Gabriel cried, before pushing his own son to the ground.

With every wince in pain Chat made, Ladybug's anger only grew stronger to the point that it was going to burst; it wasn't until she reached for her yoyo that something deep purple seeped into it. Gabriel turned for a moment and grinned, seeing that his plan was slowly working, he remained quiet before Ladybug turned around, completely emotionless, much like a robot.

"Ladybug?" Chat asked, full of pain and worry as to what happened to his lady.

Nathalie and Chat looked at Ladybug with concern and shock as to why all of a sudden she had turned so monotone and emotionless, but when Chat saw the dark purple yoyo in her hand, he knew it was the worst case scenario. He screamed as the pain from the cut stung throughout his body.

Neither of them had to state it, but they knew that if Ladybug was akumatised they would stand no chance as she was the one who done almost everything. But Nathalie knew she had to do something, she gently tucked the kwami into the strap of her belt and ran over to her son, but a sword drawn against her stopped her from going any further.

"You're not going anywhere." Gabriel declared, he grinned evilly at his wife before turning back to his latest akumatised victim.

Chat knew that if Ladybug couldn't do anything, and neither could his mother, he knew that his father would not be expecting his son to fight after being wounded terribly. So with a hand still clenched against the wound, he stood up, keeping the verbal reaction of pain hidden within as he firmly gripped his baton, nodding to his mother in assurance before he slowly walked over towards his father.

But then suddenly, Chat felt a yoyo attack his face before he fell back to the ground, he forgotten for a split second there that Ladybug could see him, this time he quickly made his way back up with the pain screaming for rest on the inside as it almost paralysed his entire body with nothing but a burning sting. He gripped his baton firmly in both hands before whacking the sword out of Gabriel's hands, Gabriel gasped before he turned back to his akumatised Ladybug, her appearance still the same but her face emotionless and her yoyo coated in a dark purple colour.

"Get him, and his miraculous!" He demanded to Ladybug, who was still approaching him.

Chat decided to make a run towards Ladybug, it was one of the last things he wanted to do, while also being in so much pain, but he was willing to fight to the very end. Meanwhile Nathalie wanted to fight, but felt like only reasoning would settle everything.

"Gabriel please, it doesn't have to be this way!" She cried.

The man turned to his wife with gritted teeth in fury. "Yes it does! I need this power, and I will do everything in my power to get what I want!"

"No!" Nathalie cried, running up to her son and huddling him against her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks before she kissed him on the head. "I won't let you hurt our family anymore!"

Chat wanted to fight, but the hug from his mother made it all too painful for him to keep on going. This was it, he thought. This would be the end of it. This would be the part where he would lose everything he ever loved all in one night, he would lose his miraculous, the love of his life and his family. He felt tears cloud his eyes as he closed them tightly, sniffles and pants as he cried out his hopes of this ever turning around, but all hopes destroyed as he soon realised that his mother had given up, and her emotions reflected onto him as well.

Ladybug obliged, her face still with no expression as she passed Gabriel, the man smirking evilly at her before Ladybug looked at him for a brief moment, causing slight suspicion to Gabriel, and then full panic when Ladybug shoved him to the ground. Chat and Nathalie looked up in awe with what just happened, shock came across their faces as they saw Ladybug pin Gabriel to the ground, a cunning grin across her face as she reached for his miraculous. Within a matter of seconds, she found the butterfly miraculous hiding underneath his fashionable tie; she pulled it off and held it tightly in her hand, claiming victory as Gabriel parted his lips with shock and anger.

"This doesn't make sense! I akumatised you!" He cried, wanting to understand why his akuma didn't infect her.

Ladybug stood up, her hands loosened by her side as she lifted up her yoyo, the purple slowly faded as the butterfly fully cleansed of evil rose through the yoyo and into the sky, disappearing into the night as a small glow from the rising sun dawned over the horizon. Nathalie and Chat approached the pair, with an arm still wrapped around her son, she used the other hand to gently grab the injured kwami, Nooroo looked up to see that he was finally free, if he wasn't in so much pain he would rejoice and celebrate his freedom.

"You can't akumatise me, or your own son. We were chosen for a reason, we can't fall into your traps. We're the ones that guide happiness towards others and keep the whole of Paris safe from danger. No matter the severity, Cat Noir and I will be there to save the day. You can't bring us down, and from now on that is how it should be."

Chat and Nathalie smiled; Nathalie nodded, seeing how wise Ladybug was with her incredible words. She knew that if that didn't make Gabriel think twice about what he was doing she didn't know what would help him. Gabriel looked down, unsure of what to say, his face still angered by his loss, but then he looked up at Ladybug, seeing the determination in her face but a small smile as she reached out for him.

"Start over; your life could be a lot better than before if you just take my hand." Ladybug gestured with an assuring smile, her hand reaching down to help him up.

Gabriel looked down before he closed his eyes tightly, trying to hold back the tears that wanted to release all the pain he had caused and the guilt that came with it. He had caused so much pain not just to people around the city but most of all to the two most important people in his life. The tears overwhelmed him and they came streaming down his face, the man wiped his eyes as he knelt on his knees in heavy guilt, Ladybug's hand still extended out to him in support, in hope for a fresh start for him.

"In the beginning...it was to help find the love of my life, I couldn't bear to raise Adrien by myself...I didn't want to be alone. All I wanted was the ultimate power to find you and bring you back into my life, but when you did...the need for power overwhelmed me...it gave me so much determination and motivation to do nothing but pursue the miraculous to become the most powerful man in the world." Gabriel explained, his breathing turning into soft pants as he wiped his glasses with his sleeve, placing them back on and looking towards the two main people in his life. "I can't believe I was willing to hurt my own son just to get what I wanted..."

"Father?" Chat forced out over the searing pain from his chest and all the tears he cried.

Nathalie looked down at her son for a brief moment before looking up towards Gabriel with her lips parted slightly, her eyes still filled with tears as she looked at her husband with deep care and worry for him. Gabriel didn't respond, he closed his eyes with content before looking up at what he would have considered his worst enemy, but with his thoughts buried and drowned in guilt, he felt like the only thing he could do now was give in. He had tried everything in his power to get what he wanted but he didn't. He got something much greater than that.

"All this time I was fighting for everything I ever wanted..." He began to say, guilt printed all over his face as he slowly closed his eyes, turning his head towards his son and wife. "But now I see I had everything all along."

A small smile curled against the man's lips, he looked up at Ladybug and grabbed the young heroine's hand, shaking it in respect in the process, showing that their battle against each other was over and it was a battle that no one lost, but a perfect ending to it, with peace on both sides.

Ladybug grasped the butterfly miraculous in her hand tightly, Nooroo had enough energy to fly towards Ladybug and cling onto her shoulder, as the sun rose she decided to leave Adrien with his reunited family for a little while she took off to find the great guardian.

Gabriel approached the two people that completed his world; he couldn't imagine his life without them. He had so much to say to them, and so did they, but all they could do now was cry in tears of happiness and embrace each other in rejoice. The Agreste family was reunited at last as the sun shone brightly in the morning sky, bring a new chapter into their lives.

Meanwhile Ladybug had flew into Master Fu's window, the master himself was meditating in the centre of the room, his eyes closed with content as he heard the familiar steps of a teenager walk into his room. He smiled as he looked up to see Ladybug with something clenched in her hand.

"I believe this belongs to you." Ladybug implied, unfolding her fingers to reveal the miraculous, Nooroo coming into sight, making Ladybug remember the other half of what she had to say. "And someone needs your help."

Master Fu stood up, his hands clasped behind his back as he approached the young girl, a smile of delight swept across his face as he picked up the butterfly miraculous, overjoyed that it was returned to him. He looked up at Ladybug in gratitude before he saw the state of the kwami. He cupped the kwami and placed him on the mat on the floor.

Not long later, Nooroo felt one hundred percent. He was finally happy and free at last.

"Thank you Ladybug." Nooroo said, not long after Master Fu said the same.

Ladybug smiled and nodded in response before she leapt out the window swinging her yoyo to the nearest building. She was extremely glad with how things turned out in the end; she hoped that now everything would be okay from now on.

 **Okay as much as that sounds like the end, it isn't the end just yet! Unfortunately it does look like that the next chapter will be the last Chapter and I'm so sorry for leaving you guys with such short notice. This Chapter I guess was just reforming the main villain but after this it only gets better.**

 **Now for some reason with the cover contest link it didn't work, basically you can find it on my deviantart profile which is linked on my fanfiction profile. ;) So I repeat, this is NOT the last Chapter! Next chapter is the last chapter. So see you all in a few days time for the final chapter! ^^**


	33. Perfect Day

**Heh, wow...the final chapter is already here, it makes me shed a tear that this story is wrapping up so soon but at the same time I had fun writing this story, and I assure you I do have more Ladybug FanFic ideas so please do keep following me for more! :D**

 **But I was thinking of taking a break from posting stories just for a little while so I can work on other things, maybe a couple of weeks or so I don't know. It's been a while since I've had no unfinished stories; I usually have either one or two going at once. Anyways, this Chapter is basically tying up any loose ends and solidifying what happened in the previous Chapter.**

 **So enjoy the final Chapter of Revelations! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 33 – Perfect Day**

As morning rose so did a new era of happiness and hope, that whole day was spent on more family bonding and some well deserved rest. Adrien was finally reunited with his parents, Marinette felt at peace now that there wouldn't be anymore akuma attacks, but there will be the occasional criminal from time to time, so she and Cat Noir weren't useless anymore. That day after all those moments in the darkness, everything brightened in the Agreste family, and in Marinette's life. It was what happened on the last day of school for the week that mattered the most.

As the sun rose to welcome Friday, Marinette stretched her arms and yawned from a pleasant sleep, she knew skipping a day of school wasn't good for her from other's perspective, not knowing that she was really Ladybug, but Marinette kept the excuse of her being sick in check so she could stay home and rest, but now she was more than ready to wake up and get going to school.

Adrien on the other hand, was still fast asleep, but then familiar footsteps walked quietly into the room. Nathalie saw Adrien's kwami Plagg nestling against Adrien's head on the pillow. With an adoring smile, she knelt down and kissed her son's forehead, causing the sleeping teen to moan before opening his eyes.

He smiled when he saw those amazing green eyes that he shared; he sat up and embraced his mother, wrapping his arms around her slim body as she pulled in close, loving her son ever so much. Nathalie ruffled up Adrien's hair a little before letting go, smirking playfully before touching his nose with one finger and giggling.

"Time for school sunshine." She greeted, before gently patting the dozed black cat kwami on the pillow.

Plagg moaned and shooed away Nathalie's hand. "No...Dreaming of cheese...don't disturb me!" Plagg grumbled, his eyes tightly shut in need of space.

Nathalie giggled once again before starting to make her way towards the door. "I made your breakfast Adrien," She informed before placing her hand on the door, turning her eyes towards him with a delightful smile. "With love."

The blonde teen's smile grew wider than it ever could, his heart melted at the feeling of having his mother back here to stay, he collapsed on his bed again, his arms spread across the bed, causing Plagg to fly off and scream in a panic. Adrien sighed as he closed his eyes at the amazing thought that his whole life seemed complete now.

"I love my life, my mother's back, I have the love of my life, my family's reunited..." He said to himself, staring with a widened smile at the ceiling before sighing again, his body fully relaxed. "I have everything I need right here."

Plagg cleared his throat in need of attention, Adrien looked up at his kwami and saw the look of annoyance and frustration on the little kwami's face, and he chuckled before having Plagg follow him to the kitchen. While they ate, Adrien thought about Marinette and their relationship. It was then that he had a brilliant idea, and couldn't wait to see it in action once he got to school.

"I have the perfect plan for today; I can feel that today is only the start of something amazing." Adrien stated, before taking another mouthful of his breakfast, even though yesterday was a great start to the family bonding, today was when it all started in one hit, and Adrien was pumped for the day.

So a little while later, Adrien was ready for school, before he walked out the door, he saw both his mother and father standing by the front door with a pleasant smile on their faces. Adrien smiled warmly before running up to hug them both.

"Have a great day at school son."

"We love you." Nathalie added, kissing her son on the forehead.

Adrien caressed his forehead, acknowledging the kiss from his mother before he looked up at his father with happiness and respect; Gabriel nodded silently with a gentle smile before gently resting a hand and gesturing him towards outside.

Meanwhile, Marinette was wide awake and downstairs having breakfast, her parents were glad to see her looking well and ready to start a new day. Shortly after finishing breakfast, she got dressed and prepared her bag, and in all the meantime she smiled in excitement as she was finally able to go to school and not worry about Hawkmoth anymore.

"Marinette there's something wrong with you today." Tikki stated, giggling with her eyes closed in delight.

Marinette looked up, smiling as she raised an eyebrow in question. "What's wrong with me?" She asked.

Tikki giggled again before opening her bright blue eyes at Marinette, she zipped up to Marinette's cheek and hugged it tightly. "You're very happy!" The kwami exclaimed with glee.

With parted lips of a smile, Marinette cupped her hands against Tikki in gratitude, glad to have such a loving kwami giving her confidence, strength, bravery and above all the power to help save the world alongside Cat Noir. She couldn't imagine her life without Tikki, she meant everything to her. But there was someone else who was battling for first place on Marinette's list of the people she loved the most.

She couldn't wait to see Adrien today; it would be the first time since the final battle against Hawkmoth that she'd see him smile. However she grew slightly disappointed when she remembered that they were keeping their relationship a secret, but she knew it was for the best. So she shrugged it off before heading off for school, giving her parents a goodbye kiss as she walked out the door.

After crossing the road excitedly, Marinette looked up expecting to see Adrien's limo pulled up in front of the school, but to her surprise it wasn't. She couldn't see his friend Nino either, and before she could even think to look for them Alya came running up to her, Alya's excitement overwhelming Marinette's.

"You would not believe what I found out yesterday! I can't believe you didn't bother to pick up the phone or even come to school you slacker!" She teased before continuing. "Ladybug and Cat Noir were here at our school fighting their archenemy! Rumour has it that they defeated him!" Alya explained, squeeing in excitement as she clenched her hands against her mouth.

Marinette's first reaction was how she knew about it since it wasn't even before sunrise that the battle took place, but then she remembered that there was evidence of their fight scattered across the courtyard, and it was possible that the school's security camera's could have picked it up, Marinette could see a security camera off in the far distance facing the centre of the courtyard so that could have been a possibility. She was glad they didn't have cameras in the bathroom.

"How did you know that?" Marinette asked, smiling with her hands clasped behind her back.

Alya directed her towards the security camera before she whipped out her phone, the ladybug keychain apparent on her phone as well. With giggles of excitement Alya swiped through her phone to find the blog and then found the video she had posted of what she could find.

"It was hard to convince the security guys that I wanted the Ladybug footage but eventually they let me have some of it." She explained, before pointing to the peacock dressed woman. "And look at that! It must be another superhero!"

With a chuckle and a hand over her mouth, Marinette closed her eyes for a moment before shrugging. "I don't know, she certainly looks like that, but I'm not sure how often she'll be seen more." Marinette replied, smirking.

After much more talking about that battle and what Alya knew of it, Marinette looked back towards the front of the school and sighed with sadness as she didn't see Adrien come in, but she had that hope that perhaps he arrived much earlier than she did and was already in class. But as she turned out the corner of her eye she saw two people come into view as they walked up the steps. She turned fully to see Adrien and Nino walking and talking together. She sighed in relief before she was pulled away by Alya, reminding her that they were going to be late for class.

Not long later, Marinette watched the door of the classroom open as Adrien and Nino walked on in. Adrien's eyes met Marinette's for a second and they both couldn't stop smiling, they both felt so eager just to embrace each other right there but they both knew they would have to wait till later, but Adrien had a hunch that his plan would work, he just had to wait till break time to initiate it.

So as class went on, a few glances from Adrien were seen while Marinette couldn't stop looking at him the entire lesson, Alya continuously nudging her arm to remind her that she can look at Adrien later, Marinette then and there felt so eager to tell her that they were dating so then all this secret hiding could stop and then they could just be together out in the open, but she felt like so many problems would arise if either one of them announced it in front of everyone.

When the class bell rang, everyone left in a hurry, Alya and Marinette walking out side by side with Adrien and Nino following slowly behind, Adrien looked up at Marinette so much that he knew Nino was going to question him sooner or later, and just when his thoughts went there, Nino raised the question.

"Dude, why do you keep looking at Marinette? It's like you like her or something..." Nino stated, before gasping, his playful mind coming into play. "Do you like Marinette eh?" He teased, gently punching his best friend in the shoulder.

Adrien looked up with a small grin, rubbing his shoulder a little in response to the gentle punch. "You'll find out later." He replied, before walking on ahead to keep Nino lost for words.

"What...?" Nino wondered, before waving out to Adrien who was walking faster. "Hey Adrien wait up!"

The blonde teen didn't speak a word while he was putting his things away; instead he kept a bright smile on his face while his eyes expressed content. Nino constantly pestered him with questions from his confusion but Adrien ignored them, causing Nino to get extremely frustrated as his curiosity got the best of him.

During that same time, Marinette and Alya were resting on a bench in the courtyard sharing a piece of fruit together as Marinette began to get her design book out, wanting to sketch some new designs based off of the peacock miraculous outfit. But then a shadow covered her bag, Marinette's blue eyes followed upwards to see the cause of the sudden shadow, she flinched within a second and backed towards Alya in the sudden presence of Adrien, her crush instincts kicking on queue.

"Hey Marinette, hey Alya." Adrien greeted with a delightful wave, Nino revealing himself right behind him.

"So, are you gonna tell me now?" Nino asked, his eyebrows narrowed in impatience as Adrien glanced at his best friend.

Marinette placed her book away, shaking a little in nervousness towards Adrien's presence, she wondered why he was right there in front of her, she sincerely wished it would be a kiss but at the same time she wished that it was only a simple greeting and then he'd be on his way. The navy haired teen crossed her legs as she sat on the bench trying to relax herself but could still feel her heartbeat racing a thousand miles an hour, he was going to be the death of her, she loved him so much.

Alya looked up in question to what Nino just asked Adrien. It sparked her interest as she scooted over a little on the bench to get a better sense at what Nino meant. "What are you talking about?"

While Nino explained to Alya about Adrien constantly looking over at Marinette during class earlier, Adrien sat down next to Marinette, causing the girl's eyes to widen as he let their bodies touch, he sat as close to her as possible before Nino stopped mid sentence to see Adrien sitting very closely next to Marinette.

"What are you doing now?" Nino cried, not having a clue what was up with Adrien.

Marinette sat there with her heart racing, she licked her lips as she deeply wanted to kiss him but her shyness got the best of her and she sucked her lips in, looking away slightly as an intense shade of red tinted her cheeks, Adrien's too. It was then that Alya looked and gasped at the scene.

"Wait, hold up. What are you doing Adrien?" Alya questioned, shocked yet excited at the same time.

It was then that Adrien made it all the more obvious that he and Marinette were in a relationship, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in closer, smiling the entire time while Marinette remained stiff, extremely nervous and shocked as to why Adrien was revealing their relationship to their best friends. It wasn't extremely obvious, and before either Alya or Nino could response, Adrien gently pulled Marinette's chin in close and sealed her lips with an enchanting kiss.

Two loud gasps were heard as Adrien and Marinette melted into the kiss, Adrien cupped her cheeks while Marinette wrapped her arms tightly around him, minimalising the distance between their bodies. They both fell extremely deep into the kiss before the sounds of a certain daddy's girl screaming at them made them unlock from each other's lips.

"Adrien, how could you!?" Chloe cried from the distance, Sabrina by her side sharing a similar but less intense expression. "And of all people why with her!?" She exclaimed, pointing a finger to Marinette.

This time, everyone was in need of an explanation. Marinette was still speechless as to why Adrien suddenly kissed her in front of everyone, she grew extremely tense inside as she began to think that Adrien was going to reveal their secret identities to everyone, she clenched her hands with intense worry before she felt the warm touch of Adrien's hands over hers, he gave her one last glance before looking up towards Nino and Alya.

"Marinette and I are dating." Adrien announced with a proud smile, causing Marinette's eyes to widen as Adrien confirmed their relationship.

"What!?" Nino and Alya cried simultaneously, Chloe crying and running off in the distance.

Adrien turned to Marinette, hoping she'd know how to continue the announcement; Marinette looked down, a blush still apparent on her cheeks as she played with her fingers, stuttering slightly before looking up at Alya, her lips forming into a small smile.

"Y-yes...we are." Marinette confirmed.

Alya's smile widened with excitement, she was truly having the most amazing day, the only thing left that could put the cherry on top of the cake was finding out who the real Ladybug was. "No way! That's amazing news!"

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Nino asked, smiling but also disappointed that Adrien didn't tell him sooner. "How long has this been going on?"

Adrien looked at Marinette, smiling adoringly at her before looking back at Nino with an answer. "About a week." He answered, rubbing Marinette's shoulder to relax her.

"How did this even happen girl? Tell me everything!" Alya insisted, demanding every single detail.

So Marinette fleshed out all the details, while still keeping the side of Ladybug and Cat Noir a secret, she made up a few things but saw that Adrien was okay with that, Adrien made up a few things too just to keep their identities secret. Marinette was glad that Adrien wasn't going to reveal their secret identity too, but now she saw that there was more than one reason why they were together now. It was because they were made for each other.

A little while after school, Marinette bid farewell to Alya while Adrien waved goodbye to Nino before wrapping his arm around Marinette and heading towards the park. There they sat down close to each other admiring their peaceful surroundings. Tikki and Plagg decided to stay hidden because of their surroundings, there were a few people about and didn't want to risk being seen.

Marinette broke the silence a few minutes later, her curiosity wanting to know why Adrien told Alya and Nino that they were together.

"Why did you tell them?" She asked, before Adrien shifted closer, the gap between them less than half an inch.

He clasped his hand over hers in admiration as he looked deep into her sparkling bluebell eyes. "I couldn't hold it in any longer, I need to be with you everywhere I go, no matter whether we're superheroes or not." He explained, smiling with assurance. "I love you Marinette, there's no one else I'd rather be with."

Marinette felt her shyness creep in on her again as she blushed and looked away slightly, feeling modest that Adrien was complimenting her for how much he cared for her.

"Thanks Adrien, I love you too." She responded, stuttering slightly before looking up at her boyfriend.

The two held their gaze and were about to crash their lips before Adrien spoke a little more, making Marinette's heart melt as every word Adrien breathed made her fall for him even more than she did before.

"We're made for each other, please don't forget that."

"I won't." Marinette assured.

And with that, the pair locked their lips in a passionate kiss, they will always be there for each other, but most of all they will be there together to fight and save the day.

' _Those two are made for each other.'_

 **THE END.**

 **And that's the end of that story! If I left anything out please let me know ASAP so I can fix it up as quickly as possible, but if I didn't forget anything then that's great! I know I kind of left out Adrien's family bonding but hey, I put some in enough to hopefully make you guys awe at it. :) I mainly wanted to focus on the love between Adrien and Marinette towards the end, that's how I initially wanted the story to end with anyway.**

 **Now, as I addressed earlier, NO SEQUEL! I did have a few ideas for a sequel but I'm not going to fall into that trap of making sequels from my stories. I will make new Ladybug stories in time, but for now I'm going to take a break from writing and do some other things in the meantime. How long will this break be? I have no idea, but it might as well be two weeks because I can't seem to get enough of writing FanFics! :D**

 **So I really hope you guys enjoyed being on this amazing journey with me. It did have its bumps here and there but I am extremely glad I pulled through in the end. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you will like my other Ladybug stories in the future.**

 **Until next time, see you later! ^^**


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